Dragon Ball Xeno Age
by Electro Shark
Summary: Aikon, a young Saiyan whose life isn't easy - especially when he has to deal with the dark matters of a Saiyan's life as well as maintain the identity of a warrior prince and a teenager. His life changes forever when a group of rebel Saiyans decide to rise up against the king, changing the lives of Aikon and his friends forever.
1. Episode 1

**Planet Sadal Arc (Intro Song: "Cha-La Head Cha-La")**

 _Episode #1: "Unlikely new Visitors – Friends or Foes?"_

"Come on lazybones, we won't reach the festival any sooner if you don't move your butts!" Quash yelled as she glared back at her three friends who each gave her the stink-eye,

"Give us a break, will ya?" Colrab scratched the back of his messy black haired head lazily, "Kalabash sensei had us run in circles around the dojo for an hour, and we're so tired, you want us to move faster?"

"And it's not like YOU can understand Quash," Yamoshi joined in, "The one thing you did was stand in the corner all day and practice your Desdo Cannon on a wooden dummy,"

"Not that I like taking Quash' side on this, but it's your own fault boys," Selrie walked past them as she and Quash leaped over a small boulder, "If you both hadn't been so lazy in your daily chores, maybe sensei would've been softer on both of you,"

The two boys' eyes twitched in response at being called 'soft' as they jumped after the girls. Their eyes widened as they took in the sight before them,

A few miles below them across the market district, there it was;

"The Ardos Festival!" all four teenagers awed in unison,

"Screw this, I'm flying my way in," and with that, Yamoshi took off towards the festival followed shortly by Colrab while both Selrie and Quash were left dumbstruck,

"Hey! Come back down here! You both don't have your flying licenses yet!" she yelled at them but the ignored her,

"You'll both get in trouble!" Selrie yelled,

"Ladies come on, don't get your panties in a bunch," Colrab flew around in circles above them, "Out here in the wastelands far away from the main city, no one can see us and even if we do go down, we'll go down together. Come on now or we'll be late," and with that he boost dashed away. Selrie and Quash looked at each other hesitantly before they decided to follow Colrab's suit.

Colrab was a young fourteen year old hybrid Saiyan that lived on Planet Sadal with his Saiyan father and grew up playing with his three best friends; Yamoshi, Selrie and Quash and occasional encounters with another more silent and much reserved and serious Saiyan boy who they used to meet while training with Kalabash – whose name he still didn't know. Colrab had messy black spiky hair, softer black eyes than the average Saiyan and a light brown Saiyan tail that he had wrapped around his waist. He wore typical savage clothing which consisted of a bottle-green tank top made of cotton, a dark blue and white trimmed armour belt around his waist securing his matching bottle-green pants, long grey wrist bands that ended right over his forearms and dark blue and orange Saiyan battle boots with grey shin guards.

His own origins and history were unknown to him, but he was told by his father once that his other half was Dragon which he inherited from his mother. Maybe that was the reason to his occasional explosive power boosts in battles…

Yamoshi was a slightly older young pure-blooded Saiyan around fifteen years that had been orphaned since the age of three. He was still oblivious to the history of his parents or close kin and all he knew was that his parents were both elites in the Saiyan Army who were brutally killed on a mission against the Frost Demons. After getting no news from them for a few weeks, he was left on the streets and was later picked up by a poor Saiyan couple who couldn't conceive children of their own and decided to take care of him and love him as their own.

The first ever friend he had was a mysterious Saiyan boy by the name of Aikon who he had met one day in the market while scavenging for food and who ended up buying him a few egg rolls. Since that day, they have been good friends and train together at Kalabash' with three other children; Colrab, Selrie and Quash who became his friends as well.

Yamoshi had spiky black hair that stood erect behind the back and top of his head with a broad forehead, sharp black eyes and a light brown tail wrapped around his waist, and he too wore typical savage clothing similar to Colrab, only that they were dark turquoise with dark blue battle gloves and matching battle boots.

Quash acted like the older sister of their group - even though she was no older than her friends in reality. She lived a middle-class life with her cousin Selrie and her mother Callio who was a general in the Saiyan Army, and her father being a Saiyan soldier; killed in action a few months before she was born. She was a pure-blooded fourteen year old girl who had a high temper – usually triggered by others' stupidity, laziness and recklessness.

At the moment, she was the strongest one in their group of four but she nonetheless longed to challenge the other mysterious boy's strength who trains with them in the dojo. Her best friend was her cousin Selrie and even though she didn't really call Yamoshi and Colrab as her friends; she still cared for them deeply – especially Colrab.

She had long and spiky black hair reaching her waist that she kept in a ponytail behind her head, sharp slanted black eyes and a dark brown tail wrapped around her waist. She wore similar savage clothing like everyone else, only red in color, dark blue and white wrist bands and matching dark blue, white and dark orange tipped boots.

Selrie was much different than the others – gentler than the typical Saiyan warrior but still a fierce and strong willed fighter ready to protect those she held close. Her Saiyan mother had died in childbirth giving birth to her and her father had gone on a mission once on his own and hadn't returned – in the meantime, she was put in care with her maternal aunt Callio with whom she's been living for around ten years along with her cousin and best friend Quash. Selrie was a thirteen year old pure-blooded Saiyan girl and the youngest of their little friend's group.

Unlike her friends, she didn't care much about competing to be the strongest – but rather trained hard to be the best of her. She too trained under the Saiyan fighting legend and past war hero Kalabash at his dojo with Quash, Colrab and Yamoshi along with the 'silent boy' whose name she didn't know yet but longed to know more about.

She had medium length slightly spiky black hair that ended just below her shoulders and stood up slightly from the front, a pale complexion and slanted large black eyes with long lashes and a light brown tail wrapped around her waist. She wore similar savage clothing like everyone else, only light brown with matching open finger gloves tied with a white string around her wrists and matching dark blue and orange tipped battle boots.

"Hellooo..? Sadal to Selrie," Quash prodded her cousin while giving her a quizzical sideward glance as they both flew towards the Ardos Festival, "You lost somewhere?"

The girl shook her head as she looked ahead, deep in thought,

"I was just... thinking about something..."

"Something? Or someone, eh?" Colrab hung back as he gave her a teasing smile and a coy wink that made Quash hold back a laugh, Yamoshi chuckle and Selrie blush uncontrollably,

"N-no! It's nothing like that... shut up!" Selrie snapped as she gave him a light shove in response,

"Speaking of someone," Quash continued, "Hey Yam, d'ya think your pal Aikon will be there? I've been itching for a battle with him; see what he's got,"

This caught Selrie's attention and a slight sliver of hope as they all turned to Yamoshi, who simply shrugged,

"How should I know? He doesn't talk much," Yamoshi replied, "He just comes to train and then... disappears as if he wasn't even there,"

"I don't know about you, but I think this Aikon guy is shady," Colrab suggested, "Think about it; nobody really knows much about him or where he's from and what's more is that he doesn't talk to any of us much either – not even Kalabash sensei. He's definitely hiding something that's for sure,"

"Damn straight," Quash agreed, "Maybe he's some sort of inter-species spy from the other worlds trying to weed out info from us,"

"Here to steal all our secrets and kill the king and queen,"

"Nah, I don't think so," Yamoshi shook his head, "I've known Aikon for a really long time and what I've come to gather is that whoever – or whatever he is, he's a good person who values and cherishes life. And besides," he blinked at Colrab, "He's just a kid like us, how can he pull a spy job and try to kill the king and queen? What are you, stupid..?"

"H-hey! I said it was probably a possibility, no need to get rough," Colrab held his hands up in response, "Anyways, we're here,"

The four teenagers silently dropped to a jog as they approached the festival which was just starting in full swing as they saw people going in with soldiers of the army checking them up and patrolling the grounds in their black and dark blue battle suits. The Ardos Festival was a grand worldwide celebration marked in memory of an ancient Super Saiyan God by the name of Ardos who had saved Planet Sadal many thousands of years ago from a Frost Demon invasion. Because of him, the Saiyan race survived and probably this is from where they developed their love for fighting and a sense of belonging to a natural unified warrior race.

"Hey! Where do you think you four are going?" a friendly voice caught their attention as a young twenty one year old Saiyan elite soldier with spiky black hair, sharp black eyes, a cross-shaped scar on their left cheek and a black and blue centred battle suit with one shoulder pad, silver edging and dark blue bodysuit and matching silver gloves, boots and a dark brown tail wrapped tightly around his waist came up to them and gave them six yellow coloured tickets each, "Don't think I'll let you go in without taking these,"

"Jinjar! What are you doing here?" Colrab said as he gave him a high five,

"I'm on patrol duty, scouting the area for any 'hostile activity' or whatnot," he sighed, "But I had these spare tickets with me and since I won't be needing them, I thought maybe you kids would like them,"

Jinjar was Master Kalabash' son and one of his old students who later on grew and joined the Saiyan army when he was eighteen; proving himself each day until he too became an elite. But unlike most of the elite soldiers in the army, Jinjar kept his friendly nature and values. He was like an older brother figure to Yamoshi, Quash, Colrab and Selrie.

"Thanks a lot for these Jinjar," Quash smiled and put her tickets in her belt pocket, "Now we won't have to stand all day in the queue and these are more than enough to help us buy anything here,"

"Heh, glad to help guys," he ruffled Quash' hair playfully, "Now go inside and have fun, I need to get back on duty,"

With that the four teenagers raced inside to join the crowd.

 _Meanwhile, a few miles away..._

"Haaa, hiya!" a young boy's voice echoed in a dark room mixed with the sounds of kicks and punches being thrown around as ki blasts flew in all directions and sizzled on impact with the walls,

"Take this one on for size, GALICK GUN!" the voice yelled as a wide pink coloured beam of energy shot out from somewhere in the dark, illuminating the room slightly as it closed in on a small green goblin-like creature before exploding it to bits,

After a few minutes, the lights went on and the smoke cleared to reveal a young teenage boy around fourteen standing in the midst. He had a nice slightly tan complexion, spiky jet black hair that stood up straight at the top of his head with one long black bang falling on the front of his forehead and another smaller on the left corner of his face, sharp deep black eyes and a dark brown tail swinging back and forth behind him as he stood there in a navy blue sleeveless training suit and white gloves and boots. He looked around at the purple blood and green exploded innards around him as he wiped his jaw and walked out of the training room, headed towards the showers.

"So, how did training go, Prince Aikon?" a tall dark skinned bald Saiyan dressed in the same outfit as the boy but with a scar across his left eye and a goatee addressed as he walked alongside him, "Didn't I tell you that the Saibamen are a great way to blow off steam when you're depressed and agitated?"

"I thought I told you not to call me by that title Gurki, and yes you weren't wrong, I do feel a tad bit better," he clenched his slightly bloodied gloved fists, "But must we kill innocent Saibamen to fulfil our bloodlust?" the man shrugged,

"Well technically, they aren't really living beings per se, they're genetically engineered organisms created in our labs by the great Dr. Hoquso," Gurki assured him at which the young prince rolled his eyes,

"Don't you think I know that?" he snapped slightly as he regained his composure, "I'm just saying that I don't really like killing innocent lives, no matter who's they are – it just seems... wrong to me," he paused before he continued, "I don't want to be like my father... someone who's cruel, heartless and kills and tortures for pleasure,"

Gurki looked apologetic as he patted his shoulder,

"Don't you worry my liege you'll always be just the way you are," he reassured him, "I know what you must deal with everyday but you're strong and I'm sure you'll find peace eventually,"

"Thanks Gurki, I hope you're right," with that he entered a shower stall, stripped himself off of his sweaty training gear and let the hot water soak him,

Soon enough, he was soon lost in deep thought,

'I wonder what Yamoshi must be doing,' he thought as he rubbed some dark blue shower gel in his spiky hair and stiff muscles, 'Bet he's out at the festival having fun with his real friends,'

After about fifteen minutes or so, he stepped out and dried himself before wrapping a towel around his waist and heading to the changing room to pick out an outfit to wear, his mind still wondering what the other kids from training must be doing,

"Gii gii! Kieeeeee!" a loud screeching voice echoed throughout the hall as five Saibamen in all their light and dark green glory and veiny heads broke out from the laboratory and jumped out the window, flying out into clear day.

"What the hell!? How did they get out?" Aikon gritted his teeth, "I have to go after them and stop them before they attack the locals,"

He sprinted to the changing room and quickly slipped on his white and black Saiyan School gi, given to him by Master Kalabash, before boost dashing out the same window and chasing the fleeing Saibamen.

 _Back at the festival..._

"Hey do you guys hear that?" Quash put a finger to her lips as she listened intently, "It sounds like someone's flying this way towards us at top speed,"

"You're just hearing things Quash," Colrab waved his hand as he bit into a grey coloured cotton candy cone styled in the shape of Saiyan hair, "Here, have some Ardos cotton candy,"

"Hold that thought, I hear it too," Yamoshi looked up at the clear day sky as he struggled to hear where the voice was coming from before he saw something, "Look! Over there in the sky,"

Sure enough, five dark and light green strange looking creatures that they hadn't ever seen before landed in the middle of the festival park, eyeing the locals with their cold red gaze. The four young teenagers stood defensively, unsure what to do.

"Kieeeeee!" one of them yelled as they scattered and began raiding the festival simultaneously. One of them began chasing the smaller children and making them cry, one began to raid the stalls and destroy goods, one of them went on a rampage and began to attack the other visitors and the last two started destroying the rides,

"Saibamen?! How did they get here?" Jinjar ran over to the chaos followed by four other soldiers, "Alright men, let's make clear work of these freaks! Be careful as to not hurt any civilians," and with that, they scattered,

"What the hell is going on!?" Colrab held up his arms as one of the Saibamen clawed at him furiously; occasionally screaming, "One minute we're all having fun and the next moment, these creeps ruin everything,"

"Where did these come from anyway?" Selrie questioned as she spun and kicked one of the Saibamen off of her before a soldier jumped in and took them from her hands, "I've studied animal biology but never have I seen anything like this myself,"

"Who cares, let's just end them already," Yamoshi snapped as he kicked one furiously away and made it crash in Jinjar's arms, "I was itching for a good battle for a while now,"

"You said it," Quash nodded,

To everyone's horror, the Saibamen weren't going down and soon enough, their eyes glowed red and their bodies began to glow with a strange purple aura as each one of them stood back up on their feet and grinned evilly at each one of them,

"Wait, I see someone else approaching," Colrab broke the tension as he pointed to a white and black clothed figure flying towards them at top speed, "And look, he's wearing Saiyan School gi similar to what we wear while we train,"

Sure enough, their doubts were confirmed when the spiky jet black haired new challenger landed just a few feet in front of them facing off the Saibamen – his back turned to the crowd;

The Saiyan School logo was printed on the back of the white gi he wore and his dark brown tail swung majestically behind him,

"My liege," a couple of the soldiers came and bowed respectfully in front of him but quickly regained their composure when the said young prince gave them a look unbeknownst to everyone else,

"Aikon..? Is that you?" Yamoshi reached out to him as the Saiyan teen gave him a sideward glance; acknowledging each of them.

Yamoshi gave him a grateful smile, Colrab looked mystified, Quash glared with the same expression she used on the Saibamen and Selrie blushed – unable to move as Aikon's gaze settled on her for a while before turning back to the common enemy,

"Wait a sec, aren't you that silent mute who trains with us at Kalabash'?" Quash crossed her arms as she sized him up; the soldiers resisted the urge to tackle her for using such a tone with the prince, "Where did you come from anyway, and you honestly think you can just waltz in here and act like a hero?"

"Hey, who cares? Aikon's a friend and I trust him," Yamoshi snapped at her, "He must've sensed that we were in trouble and he decided to come help us,"

"Uh guys, meet ups all well and good, but need I remind everyone we're in the middle of a battle here..." Colrab interrupted,

"What should we do prin... I-I mean Aikon?" Jinjar did a last minute save and spoke up,

"It's simple," Aikon began as he assumed his battle stance and narrowed his eyes at the enemy, "We take them all two on one each. They're strong so we're gonna have to be careful..."

"And why should we listen to yo- eeeek!" Quash was cut off as one of the Saibamen hurled a ki blast at her, "Okay, let's get this over with,"

And with that the battle began,

Even though the Saibamen had mysteriously gotten much stronger than before, with the ten of them working together; the Saiyans now had the upper hand.

Quash and Colrab sized up a fleeing Saibaman as Quash rushed forward and delivered a devastating combo on it. The Saibaman recovered from the blow and slammed a sledgehammer at Quash' head; sending her toppling into one of the stands.

At this, Colrab yelled a battle cry and roundhouse kicked the Saibamen aside but just as he rushed forward to try a follow-up combo, he was attacked by a string of ki blasts; holding him back and tearing up part of his green tank top.

"That's it! I'm sick of you right about now," Colrab yelled as his eyes glowed red – the rage triggered part of his Dragon cells to awaken and he rushed forward; surprising the green fiend as he unleashed a Sonic Rush at it before pulling his hands up over his head, summoning a large blood coloured ball of ki, "Kalabash sensei taught me this one, try to knock off this why don't cha, SEEKER BOMBS!"

As he released the ki blast; it multiplied into ten or so smaller ones as they homed in on the confused Saibaman; striking him on point as each blast made a deep gash across its body before its eyes went blank and it fell to the ground, dead.

"Gii gii gii!"

'Uhh... what was that..?' he thought as his yes went normal yet again and he realized what just happened,

"Great job Colrab, that was amazing," Quash yelled up at him, to which he looked at her blankly,

"Oh," he said simply before shaking the strange feeling off and jumping down to where Quash stood, rubbing under his nose proudly and regaining his confidence from before, "Heh, I showed him huh?"

"Mhmm," she mumbled before taking his hand and pulling him towards one of the food stands, "I'm hungry, let's eat,"

"But wouldn't that be stealing?"

"Don't worry, we'll leave a ticket for whatever we eat, now come on!"

Meanwhile, Aikon and Selrie squared up against one beat up and bruised Saibamen that was too stubborn to die just yet,

"Let's attack it simultaneously," Aikon suggested as he wiped his slightly cut cheek and looked at his partner, "That way it won't have time to escape or react,"

"Right! I'll knock it towards you after beating it up so you can finish it off quicker," she cried as she readied herself and began furiously combo-ing the cornered Saibamen before launching it diagonally upwards with a double back kick and flew back upwards; ready to pound it back down,

"Aikon, heads up!" she slammed her balled fists above the Saibaman's veiny head as it screamed in pain and came rocketing down to the ground where Aikon charged a powerful ki super in his hands,

"GALICK GUN!" he screamed as a large pink beam of energy shot out from his palms and pushed the creature upwards again, "Get out of the way or you'll be swept up with it,"

Without delay, the young girl jumped out of the blast's path as the beam pushed the Saibaman way up and exploded just above the planet's atmosphere.

"That was amazing!" Selrie sighed as she rejoined him on ground, "I've seen you fight before in training but that was something else,"

"Yeah? Guess I don't really stick around much to let anyone notice," he replied coolly as he turned to leave before giving her a sideways glance and a smile which made the said girl's heart skip a beat, "You're not so bad yourself, Selrie..." he finished off with a wink,

Before she could react, he turned away and flew over to where Yamoshi and Jinjar were fighting three more of the Saibamen,

'Huh..? What just happened...' she blinked as she felt her heart, 'He knows my name!? Is this what crushing on someone feels like?'

"Hey Selrie, there you are," Quash' voice interrupted her as she and Colrab ran over with a mountain of carnival street food and handed her a corndog, "Here's a little something, you're welcome,"

"Did you guys steal all this food!?" her eyes widened as she saw the mountain of sweets, corndogs, churros, popcorn, cotton candy, taffy and many other kinds of food in both their arms,

"Yeah no, sort of? Does it even matter?" Colrab pushed the stick in her cousin's mouth, "The festival is a mess anyway and I couldn't let all this food go to waste," at which the young girl's stomach growled in response and she simply rolled her eyes and bit into it,

"Hiya!" Yamoshi yelled as he released a Double Sunday at one of the two Saibamen they were fighting; reducing it to dust, "And that there makes three,"

Aikon meanwhile unleashed a devastating combo at another Saibaman and punched him over at Jinjar who drove his own fist through the monster before tossing the left over carcass behind him. Now there was only one of them left as the three Saiyans cornered around it.

The Saibaman twitched in fear as its red eyes darted from Aikon to Jinjar to Yamoshi. Then an evil grin crept on its face,

"Gii gii," it cried loudly as it lurched its head back and dove at Jinjar before wrapping its arms and legs over him, stopping his movements, "Kieeeeee!"

"Arrgh, what the heck is it doing to me..?" Jinjar gasped as the Saibaman glared at him and tightened its grip. Aikon and Yamoshi gripped each of the monster's arms and tried prying it off their older friend, but to no avail.

Then Aikon remembered,

"Yamoshi, get back! It's gonna-"

BOOOM!

He was cut off as the Saibaman self destructed itself – blowing both of them back from the explosion as they crashed a few good feet away in a bloody heap,

Yamoshi crashed underneath a pile of rocks and fainted on impact while Aikon managed to kick himself out of a heap of rubble struggled to look up through the debris as his eyes grew wide at the huge crater before him;

The top of his white gi was blown off completely, revealing his black undershirt. His lower was singed from the bottom and torn across his knees while his dark brown tail was painted in his own blood. His right eye was bruised shut with his expressions bloody and his right arm wouldn't move,

"YAMOSHI! JINJAR! Nooo!" he fought furiously to get to his feet, "T-this... can't be, my only t-two friends c-can't just, aaarrghh..." he collapsed from the overwhelming pain in his right side as he looked ahead of him and reached out before his vision blurred and he passed out.

"Aikon, Yamoshi!" Colrab, Selrie and Quash ran over as soon as they heard the blast go off; taking in the scene before them,

Yamoshi was nowhere to be seen except his bruised arm poking out from some fallen rocks in the distance while Aikon lay bloodied and bruised face-down by the mouth of a large crater in the middle from where billows of smoke could be seen,

"Oh no!" all three of them ran forward to check on their friends; their hearts racing before they were intercepted by the remaining soldiers,

"Get back all of you!" a soldier stopped the teenagers' path as their medic jumped in the crater and two other soldiers went to fetch Aikon and Yamoshi. A while later, the lot of them returned and placed three battered bodies on the ground before them,

The medic checked for each of their pulse and frowned when she was done with Jinjar – who looked worse than either of them,

"I'm sorry, he couldn't survive the blast..." she replied solemnly as she brushed his eyes shut and stood back up,

Jinjar's armour was blown off, leaving his tattered dark blue bodysuit underneath and his tail snapped in half. His face was marked with bruises and large gaping hole was near his chest,

"W-what about Aikon and Yamoshi?" Quash questioned the medic as she wiped a tear,

"They'll both live," she mumbled, "Apparently, they weren't affected too much by the blast – probably because of standing a few feet away when the Saibaman went off so they're just hurt pretty bad, but I'm afraid we'll need to take them away for a while,"

Yamoshi's tank top was blown off, his pants torn and his belt completely destroyed, freeing his bloodied brushy tail. His head was bleeding near one of his temples which the medic wrapped a bandage around.

"When will they be discharged..?" Selrie looked on as one of the soldiers hoisted Aikon and Yamoshi on a stretcher and boarded an ambulance before speeding off into the distance,

"Tell you what, you both are Callio's girl's right? When your friends are feeling better, I'll give her a ring and tell her to send you kids over to see them, how's that?" she ruffled Selrie's hair – much to her annoyance and turned to leave, "Now you three get clear from here and go home for now. We'll handle it from here, and don't let me catch you flying around, understand?" with that she joined her comrades; leaving the three teenagers to themselves.

Colrab, Selrie and Quash walked silently back towards the city, taking in what just happened to them in the past few minutes. What could have been a day filled with fun and festivities was soon turned into a day of death and sadness. One of their good friends died today and two more of them were sent away to the hospital,

"You guys think Yamoshi will be okay?" Quash mumbled, "He took a pretty bad beating back there,"

"What about that Aikon guy?" Colrab added,

"What about him?" Quash snapped at him as she faced him,

"I don't know about you girls but I was thinking about something," Colrab he replied as they walked the streets together, "He didn't seem so bad to me, in fact he was pretty cool,"

Quash was silent for a while before she shrugged,

"Yeah I guess you're right there," she walked on ahead as she waved back, "At first I thought he would be a complete weirdo too but in the end, he pulled out for us and helped us beat those Saiba-freaks," she turned to Selrie, "What's your take on all that's happened Sel?"

"Huh..? Oh!" she plucked a stray strand of hair away from her face as she blushed slightly, "I think he's... kinda cute honestly, don't you think?"

Both Colrab and Quash gave each other sideward glances before they "oooh-ed" loudly at their friend and made her blush even more,

"Give me a break will you! I just stated the obvious, he is pretty attractive," Selrie clasped her hands on her ears in a futile attempt to drown them off, "And besides, cute can mean anything... like take bunnies for example,"

"Maybe so, but that still proves the fact that YOU'RE TOTALLY CRUSHING ON HIM!" Quash shrieked as she pinched her cousin's cheeks, "Aww look at wittle Selwie having her first cwush,"

"Cut it out..!" she yelled as she slapped Quash' hands away from her face and rubbed her slightly red and bruised cheeks, "Besides, I'm pretty sure he doesn't feel the same way,"

"Ah don't feel that way bruv, you're a driven and strong willed girl, I'm sure he's bound to fall for you eventually," Colrab joined in as he slapped Selrie's back,

"Not to mention adorable," Quash pointed, "And don't worry cuz, we'll keep your little secret safe with us,"

"I don't know if I should be relieved or worried about that statement," she sighed tiredly and walked on, "Now I'm off to the food court to get a bite to eat. You guys coming?"

"Right behind ya!" they both cried in unison as they entered the mall together,

 _At the Royal Castle..._

"The plan worked, Captain Horenzo. The Saibamen infiltrated the festival, they were intercepted by the prince, and then one of them have been reported to have exploded and taking out Prince Aikon with it,"

A tall figure in a long white cloak spoke from a monitor screen in a robotic voice. Their face was covered underneath a hood with only their glowing white eyes showing through as they addressed the man in front of the screen.

The said man had short spiky black hair, a matching black moustache and wore a black and white centred battle suit with one shoulder pad, silver edging and dark blue bodysuit and matching silver gloves, boots and a light brown tail around his waist as he stood there with a content smile on his lips and crossed arms,

"Excellent," Horenzo replied in his raspy voice, "With the prince now out of the way, we can finally work in peace as we carry out our master plan, without any intrusions,"

"What about the king and queen?" Cyborg questioned, "They may not agree to this plan of ours, and with the death of their son-"

"Abbage and Carro trust the Council too much, even more than their boy who I'm pretty sure is despised by the father anyway – and they won't pose a threat for us. Besides," Horenzo walked over to the window as he looked out over the horizon, "I know how self-centred and driven our _king_ can be. Once he hears our plan to unite the kingdom under one common leader, he'll be BOUND to help us – his wife will be sure to follow after and if she doesn't, then Abbage himself will dispose off of her, that I am fairly certain of,"

Just then, the door to his room opened and a tall, slender female Saiyan stepped in. She wore a similar battle suit like Horenzo but the centre plate was coloured dark purple instead of white. She had short jet black hair with one long strand falling on the right side of her face, sharp black eyes and a dark brown tail around her waist.

"Captain, we may have a problem on our hands," she spoke as she produced a file from behind her and flipped through the pages, "The young prince didn't exactly... die in that explosion,"

"WHAT!?" Horenzo boomed as he turned to the woman and snatched the file away from her, scanning it himself, "H-how can this be?! I just saw the soldiers hoist-"

"A body into one of the morgues, I know, I was there," she shook her head, "But it was too big to be the prince' corpse anyway. The guy we lost was none other than one of our own soldiers; an elite named Jinjar," she pointed at the file, "Our concerned target is currently recovering in one of the healing chambers. He didn't exactly die but-"

"He was brought to near death... DAMMIT!" he slammed the file on his desk as he turned to the screen before him, "How bad are our chances now, Cyborg?"

"According to his Saiyan DNA, the prince will indeed receive a zenkai boost when he is fully healed,"

"Which means he'll be an even tougher nut to crack if he wasn't before," the woman added,

"I am fully aware of that, thank you for clarifying Kyabetsu," the man sighed irritably as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, "No matter, even with his power more than doubled from before; he will still be no match for me,"

"What about the other kid that went inside with him?" Kyabetsu added, "He'll be a threat for us as well once he heals too,"

"Like I SAID," Horenzo glared back at her, "I will personally take care of them myself, BOTH of them. The prince may be a handful but that other runt is nothing more than a low-class forgotten orphan. He's like a fly to any of us anyway,"

"Shall we continue the project then, Captain?" Cyborg questioned,

"Yes, we do," he looked back at the hooded image before him, "We go onward with Operation Absalon and keep it strictly confidential as of now – even from the king and queen,"

"The serum isn't ready yet," Kyabetsu crossed her arms at him, "We still need a few more weeks until it's done, otherwise we'll end up with..." she paused as she flipped through the file and reached a different page, "Another one of THAT,"

Horenzo took the file as he flipped it over to reveal the title;

"S.A. Mark I..." he mumbled as he shut it again, "I see, we wouldn't want that to happen to us," he waved his hand as he turned away from both of them, "That will be all Cyborg, now leave me be," at which, the screen blanked out and the image of the hooded figure disappeared,

"What about me, my Captain?" Kyabetsu spoke as she placed a slender hand on his shoulder pad, "You must be tired from all the missions, mind if I-"

"Didn't you hear a word I said, woman?!" Horenzo snapped as he ripped her hand off of his armour, "I said leave me be!"

She massaged her sore hand as she looked up at him one last time with regretful eyes and turned away, walking off and disappearing through the door. Horenzo marched over to his desk as he dropped himself into the seat; opening one of the drawers and pulling out a small projector from it before turning it on; revealing a fish-faced person with light green skin, drooping slitty eyes and long antennae protruding from his cheeks. He wore a round black hat on his head with a large white 'M' in the centre front,

"Master Bibidi, I wanted to update you on our current situation,"

 **End Episode (Outro Song: "Rock the Dragon")**

 _What new challenges await our heroes next? And what 'Master Plan' is Horenzo and his subordinates planning for the people of Planet Sadal?_

 _Next time on Dragon Ball XA._


	2. Episode 2

**(Intro Song: "Cha-La Head Cha-La")**

 _Episode #2: "Sinister Plans Afoot – Aikon's Torment."_

Early next day; Colrab, Selrie and Quash walk together through the streets of the Main City as they make their way over to the Saiyan School for their daily training in combat. They had all dressed in their own version of the Saiyan School akin to what Aikon had worn the day before – only slightly different than each other in looks;

Selrie's gi consisted of a sleeveless white gi top bearing the same Saiyan School symbol on her front left side and back, a matching white mini-skirt with a black belt wrapped around the waist tied to the left side, black wrist bands and matching black leggings covering her feet and ending in black qipao shoes with black sin guards. Her furry light brown tail was swinging freely behind her this time although she was careful not to let it hit any passerby's – it was considered quite rude in Saiyan culture.

Quash' gi was slightly different than her cousins'; she wore a black sleeveless undershirt with a large white Saiyan School logo plastered to the front of her chest, the white gi top which she was supposed to wear over it was off and tied around her waist like a sort of skirt and held in place by her black belt, white gi shorts underneath, black fingerless gloves and pale brown flip flops on her feet. Her dark brown tail dangled freely below her tied-up gi top.

Colrab on the other hand wore a white one-shoulder gi top with the Saiyan School symbol on the shoulder front side, black combat gloves, white gi pants with black boots reaching up to his shins with white laces running along the front. His light brown tail swinging behind him.

The Saiyan School was a dojo run by an elderly Saiyan named Kalabash, who was a former soldier in the army once, a world-wide war hero and an expert martial artist. Even though he was still a fairly respected figure in the Saiyan community; since he had stopped fighting altogether, the newer generations didn't really look up to him like the older ones did – especially the elite.

For what reason had Kalabash resigned from the army and given up on fighting, was a complete mystery to everyone, even his own son Jinjar.

"Do you think Kalabash sensei would've known what went down yesterday?" Selrie began as together the three mounted the steps leading to the dojo,

"Of course he'd know about it," Colrab snapped, "The whole city was gossiping about the 'green freak outbreak' and Jinjar's death, of course he'd know,"

"Doubt it," Quash butted in, "If you guys didn't already know, Kalabash sensei isn't really much of a social person and rarely does he ever come out of his dojo; especially since his wife died so mysteriously twenty years ago,"

They entered the main room of the dojo together. The whole place and the darkwood floor, as spotless as ever with the smell of cedar scented candles in the room. At one corner of the dojo, there were a set of pale off-white sliding screen doors that led to the gardens outside and a large marble stage in the centre where they practiced combat.

At the far end of the room; Kalabash was seated cross-legged in mid air as he meditated silently with his arms crossed in front of him and his eyes closed,

He wore a black coloured sleeveless gi top with the Saiyan School logo at his front left side and back, matching black gi pants, a thick brown rope belt tied around his waist and black gi boots with a red stripe running on the front side and a white string around the ankle. He also wore a large katchin bead necklace around his neck to add as a series of heavy weights in battle and a light brown tail poking out behind him.

Kalabash had a tall muscular built with sharp black eyes, a long grey pointed beard and matching grey moustache, large spiky grey hair with two long grey bangs falling on the front of his forehead and a red bandanna wrapped around his forehead. Nobody knew how old he really was, but he easily looked in his mid to late sixties.

The three young teenagers slipped off their shoes and slowly made their way over to their aged master as they all seated before him respectively with their heads bowed and their arms resting at their thighs,

"Ohayō Gozaimasu, Kalabash sensei," they all chanted in unison as the old Saiyan shortly opened his eyes and acknowledged the three of them,

"It appears as your usual training batch is incomplete," he stated firmly, "Where are the other two; Aikon and Yamoshi?"

"Aikon and Yamoshi couldn't be with us today, Kalabash sensei," Quash replied confidently as she kept her head bowed and tried to ignore his piercing gaze, "Yesterday at the Ardos Festival, we were all ambushed by a group of five strange monsters called the saibermen-"

"Saibamen," Colrab muttered smoothly,

"Right, the Saibamen," she corrected herself and shot a grateful smirk at the messy haired Saiyan next to her, "Who went on a rampage and began destroying and attacking everything in their path. Luckily, we were able to hold them off long enough before our forces joined in to help but alas, one of them self destructed itself and took out Aikon, Yamoshi and... Jinjar," she paused at the last name as she felt her throat tighten,

"And..?" Kalabash quirked an eyebrow at her as he crossed his arms regally before him,

"Aikon and Yamoshi survived but... barely, and they were taken to a hospital where they're still recovering right now," Quash gulped, "B-but Jinjar couldn't make it..."

Kalabash' eyes widened before he dropped himself softly to the ground; staring off into space as his expression became slightly etched with sadness – yet he refused to shed a tear or say anything to express himself. After a few uncomfortable minutes of silence, the three teenagers looked to each other worryingly as if what to do,

"Sensei?" Selrie began softly as she looked up at him, "We are very sorry for your loss, Jinjar was more than a friend to us as well – like a brother really,"

The old man stood up as he turned and looked out the window with the same sad expression on his face,

"It's been twenty years," he began as the three turned to him attentively and waited for him to continue, "Twenty years since that fateful day, when I promised her this," he paused as he reached inside his belt and pulled out a folded up old monochrome photograph of a Saiyan couple with a year old baby in the mother's arms,

 _Twenty years ago..._

"Kalabash come quick!" a smooth female voice called out as she pointed to a small spiky haired baby boy in a mini dark blue and brown battle suit who chuckled and struggled to stand up, "Jinjar's taking his very first steps,"

She had long messy black hair with spiky stray bangs reaching to her back and tied with a thick red string, soft black eyes and a tan complexion. She was dressed in a matching dark blue and brown battle suit with white edging, dark blue and brown battle gloves and matching boots with black skin-tight shorts. Her dark brown tail swung excitedly behind her slender waist.

"What is it, woman?" a much younger Kalabash came into the room as he was slipping on a matching dark blue and brown battle suit over his short sleeved black bodysuit and pants. He wore the same matching gloves and boots as his wife. He quirked his eyebrow when he noticed what all the excitement was about,

This Kalabash had the same tall muscular built but had a small black goatee on his chin and no moustache, large spiky black hair with two long black bangs falling on the front of his forehead, the same cold sharp black eyes and light brown tail. He didn't have the wrinkles and worry lines from his present self and he looked slightly much happier, relaxed and satisfied with his life.

"Hmph, so what?" he huffed as he slipped on his battle suit armour and smirked at her, "He stood up last night in his cot as well after you had gone to sleep,"

"Wait... WHAT!?" she cried and smacked him lightly on the shoulder, "You should've told me about this, it's a pretty big deal when our boy learns to walk on his own,"

He shook his head as he smiled slightly and tilted her downcast face upwards to meet his own – immediately catching her off-guard with the unexpected show of affection,

"I'm sorry, it didn't cross my mind to tell you and besides even if I did, I doubt you'd have been this happy to see him walk with your own two eyes," he caressed her chin as they stared at each other for a while; their faces inches apart now, "Ugula, I..."

"Kala-" the moment was interrupted by a series of loud pounding on their front door,

"Hey lovebirds, you ready yet? We're about to leave for Planet Glyx in around five,"

Ugula pulled her face away from and stepped aside to pick up their child,

"Duty calls, I guess," she laughed it off as she tucked baby Jinjar in his cot, but her husband could sense in her voice that she was a bit disappointed to go just yet, "We can continue this later when we're back, okay?"

"Yeah right sure, now come on or else Okchoy isn't going to let us hear the end of this," he said as they raced out the door and shut it behind them.

...

A few hours later, Kalabash knelt on the ground of a pink earthen wasteland as he cradled Ugula's beaten up bloodied form in his arms. The sky was bloody red and cloudy; the battlefield littered with dead bodies of Saiyan soldiers and strange aqua skinned, red eyed aliens with elongated heads, sharp rows of teeth, claw like arms and legs, and hunched over bodies.

"Heh, guess the mission... didn't go... as according to plan huh honey..?" Ugula choked out as she looked up to meet the eyes of her beat up husband. Her right eye was smashed shut, her armour was almost completely destroyed with a gaping hole near the centre of her chest and her face beat in and bleeding, "I'm so sorry Kalabash..."

"Don't you go saying that, you hear me..?!" he snapped as he clutched her form closer to him and tried to cover her wounds with his hands to stop the bleeding, but failed to do so, "It wasn't anyone's fault, we had no idea the Glyxians were plotting a war against us and had no intension of a peace treaty. We weren't prepared that's all,"

"I wish... I could see our son, for one last time," her breath hitching and voice dropping to a whisper as her one good eye fluttered and teared, "Promise me... you'll take care of him. Promise... me that... you'll always protect him... no... no matter what... happens..."

"NO! STOP IT!" he yelled as he hugged her tighter, "You're going to be fine, you hear me!? We'll get you to a healing tank and you'll be all better in no time, stay with me Ugula, please! I need you!"

"I... love you," she whispered one last time before her body loosened in his arms,

She was dead.

"Ugula..? Ugula!?" Kalabash shook her and placed a finger on her neck to check her pulse before he pulled away; shaking his head as his eyes overflowing with tears, "No, no this can't be real, you can't leave me like this," he hugged her form against his body tightly, "I love you too... so much it hurts me to admit it,"

After what seemed like forever, he pulled away and rested her gently on the ground before him as he untied the red string from her hair and wrapping it around his forehead,

"I swear I'll avenge you my love, and I promise I'll always take care of our son for us," he looked about and saw several of his fallen comrades as the memories flashed in his mind and he gritted his teeth in anger, "I swear I'll avenge you all!"

He was interrupted as a loud screeching pierced the red sky and ten more Glyxians appeared a few yards ahead; racing towards him,

"KrrreeeeeeEEEEEeeee! HiissssSSSsssSS..."

 **Battle BGM: "Solid State Scouter"**

"This is for you, Ugula," he stood up as he turned to glare at the masses; his eyes lit with fury, "You want a piece of me? Then come at me with your full power you freaks!" he boost dashed over to them, yelling out a battle cry as they clashed in a flurry of kicks and punches,

"Is that the best you can do!? Hiyaa!" he yelled as he kicked one of the Glyxians aside with a sweeping roundhouse at its face, "Now you'll pay for every single death you caused today!"

He yelled out as he grabbed one of their heads before it could fire a purple mouth beam and threw it into three others – making them crash into the ground below, creating a large crater,

"Hhhiisssssss..!" the aliens hissed in pain as they made contact with the ground below and died on impact with a charged ki blast,

"HaaaaaaAAAAAA!" Kalabash charged up his ki more as he landed another solid combo after combo simultaneously at each of the Glyxian soldiers; swiftly dodging any oncoming blows and swatting them away like they were flies. Kalabash was purely driven by his rage; fuelling him to continue regardless of the fact that he was clearly outnumbered and losing stamina and ki, "You will rue the day you EVER betrayed the Saiyans!" he blew two of them aside as he pulled his hands above his head and summoned a large sphere of blood coloured ki,

"Hisss!?" the lot of them cried in shock as they witnessed the spectacle before them; scrambling to get away, but to no avail,

"SEEKER BOMBS!" he screamed as he threw the ball at one of them and continued with a follow up barrage of ten or so smaller ki balls that struck the Glyxians and melted their skin, reducing their remains to ash,

Now completely exhausted, Kalabash dropped down to the ground to catch his breath as four of the remaining Glyxians dashed over to him; two of them grabbing him from behind, holding him up and two others who began slashing and clawing at him from the front,

"Aaarrghh.. ughh.." he yelled in pain as his armoured top completely broke off – leaving him only in his black bodysuit, boots and gloves, his strength fading as each hit made contact with him, 'This isn't good. If this keeps up, I'm toast...'

He dropped down to the ground, panting and bloodied as one the aqua skinned fiends kneed him in the face and sent him tumbling on his back. As they were about to deliver their finishing blow, Kalabash noticed that the sky had changed color and become a darker shade of red. Then as if a ray of hope, a large glowing object shone through the clouds,

"A moon!?" Kalabash yelled as Glyx' natural satellite revealed its light fully to the battered Saiyan warrior and a grin split across his face, "Hehe, now you bastards are in for it,"

The Glyxians roared in response, disregarding his statement and to shut him up, decided to deliver yet another round of stomps and slashes at their visitor – unknown to the fact that their futile blows were no longer dealing any damage on him.

Kalabash' muscles rippled over his arms, legs and chest as he began to grow in size, his tail beating furiously with his racing heartbeat, his pupils disappeared and his incisors elongated and sharpened with the rest of his teeth. His face took on a more ape-like look as long brown hair began sprouting all over his body and his nose flattened to his face,

"Grrraaa..." he roared as he slapped the Glyxians off of him and jumped to his feet; turning his face fully towards the bright white object in the sky as his eyes turned red and he began to grow to a couple hundred feet; his bodysuit, boots, gloves and bandanna stretching along with him, until he had grown a couple hundred feet,

"HiissssSSSsssSS!?" the aliens yelled nervously amongst each other as they witnessed how their foe completely shape shifted himself into something horrifying and COMPLETELY different to anything they had ever witnessed. They were all done for,

"ROOAAARRR!" Kalabash yelled as he opened his mouth and fired a large mouth beam at the four Glyxian soldiers and incinerating them on the spot,

"Grrrr..?" he turned and scooped Ugula's body off the ground and turned it in his arms sadly, rubbing her form lovingly against his face one last time and placing her inside a hole in the ground before slapping a huge paw of dirt on it as a grave,

"ROOOAAAAAAARRR!" he yelled into the night as he beat his chest and stomped over to a nearby city of Glyxians to continue his vengeance upon their entire race,

 _Back to the Present.._

"Shortly after morning hit, a few other soldiers heard our distress call and arrived at Glyx with reinforcements, but it was already over; in my fitful rage, I had completely exterminated the Glyxian race from the entire universe," he paused as he closed his eyes, "That day, I lost all my friends, my ego and the love of my life all in the span of a few hours. When we arrived back on Sadal, the king at that time personally wanted to promote me to an elite rank but I passed the offer and handed in my armour, just so I could spend more time with my son and keep the promise I made to Ugula... but I'm afraid I couldn't hold it up till the end,"

"We had no idea you went through so much, Kalabash sensei," Selrie wiped a tear from her eyes, "We're so sorry you had to deal with that, but what happened to Jinjar wasn't up to you. He was fighting for everyone and he'll be remembered as a hero who saved so many lives,"

"He will," Colrab added, "And I guess I understand as well how it feels to lose someone you hold so dear to your heart,"

"I think we all do," Quash nodded as she referred to everyone, "Thank you for telling us about your past sensei, we'll keep your secret safe with us,"

"All I ask of you my students, is that when you're out there at war," he turned to them, "It just may be the last chance you ever get to be with the ones you love, so never take your relationships for granted – especially your best friends," he finished as his three pupils nodded in response,

"Now then for today's training, let's practice the Genocide Shell I was teaching you the day before, watch me as I summon four energy spheres before you!" he said so as a purple ball of energy gathered in his palm,

"Hai!" they cried in reply,

 _Meanwhile..._

A large Saiyan stood over the control panel of two healing tanks and tapped away at their controls,

He had long black hair towards the back of his head but was bald from the front and top, had thick black brows over sharp green and black eyes and a dark brown tail wrapped around his waist. He wore a white and brown one-shoulder battle suit with white edging, dark brown and white gloves with matching boots and dark red bodysuit pants underneath.

"What seems to be the progress of our patients, Lieutenant Karifuwara?" Kyabetsu walked in as she stood next to him and peered inside the tanks before her eyes widened, "Why are their clothes off?"

"Because the healing water in the tank is very sensitive and we can't risk it being impurified with the blood and dirt from their clothes," he stated blankly, not looking up from what he was doing, "Why are you asking me this? We do this all the time,"

"So you mean to tell me that when we returned beat up last week from our mission from Planet Ooo, I was placed in there buck nude?"

"Yes," Karifuwara gave a sideward glance and quirked his brow at her, "Don't you have anything better to do then to bother me? I'm busy checking and assuring their vitals are up to mark,"

"Yes yes, about that," she showed him a clipboard where there was a medical report of both Aikon and Yamoshi, "As you already know, on the order of our new future leader, we were supposed to keep a look out for any potential or possible threat that may prove cumbersome to us in the future – which is why we have been observing the 'prince' and his acquaintances for some time now especially after the progress he's shown and that daring stunt he pulled with his friends at the festival grounds. I've been able to prepare a classification of their power levels and races so that we can calculate and predict their strengths and weaknesses for later. Take a look at this, although I'm sure it will surprise you too at what you'll find,"

The stoic large Saiyan took the clipboard from the woman's hand and scanned it thoroughly as his eyes widened,

 **Name: Aikon  
Race: Saiyan (Pure-Blood)  
Age: 14  
Sex: Male  
Power Level: 3,450 **

**Name: Yamoshi  
Race: Saiyan (Pure-Blood)  
Age: 15  
Sex: Male  
Power Level: 3,300**

 **Name: Quash  
Race: Saiyan (Pure-Blood)  
Age: 14  
Sex: Female  
Power Level: 3,345**

 **Name: Colrab  
Race: Hybrid Saiyan-Draconic  
Age: 14  
Sex: Male  
Power Level: 3,315**

 **Name: Selrie  
Race: Saiyan (Pure-Blood)  
Age: 13  
Sex: Female  
Power Level: 3,275**

 **Name: Kalabash  
Race: Saiyan (Pure-Blood)  
Age: ?  
Sex: Male  
Power Level: ?**

 **Name: Abbage  
Race: Saiyan (Pure-Blood)  
Age: 34  
Sex: Male  
Power Level: 9,895**

 **Name: Carro  
Race: Saiyan (Pure-Blood)  
Age: 31  
Sex: Female  
Power Level: 8,415**

 **Name: Jinjar  
Race: Saiyan (Pure-Blood)  
Age: 21  
Sex: Male  
Power Level: 7,570**

 **Name: Gurki  
Race: Saiyan (Pure-Blood)  
Age: 37  
Sex: Male  
Power Level: 8,760**

 **Name: Erion  
Race: Saiyan (Pure-Blood)  
Age: 34  
Sex: Male  
Power Level: 10,000+**

"Why is our leader's name in here, Kyabetsu?" Karifuwara looked over at the woman and then scanned Aikon's sleeping face before it hit him, "No... I don't believe this..."

"Well, you better believe it," the Saiyan woman pointed at the boy, "He's Erion's nephew aka son of that power hungry tyrant Abbage,"

"The resemblance is uncanny no doubt," Karifuwara stroked his cleft as he studied Aikon's sleeping face, "However, we doubt he's going to be much use to us in the coming years – considering Lord Erion hates Abbage and anything remotely related to him,"

"Eh, family squabbles," the woman shrugged as she turned to leave, "There is a possibility if we try to convince him to join our side but only if he gives up the crown to his brother and bows before him – which is highly unlikely,"

"But still, considering Abbage's submission to the Council, I doubt he'll think otherwise," Karifuwara stood up, "Besides, we all know well enough Abbage values power more than anything. When he learns about the unimaginable strength the Demon Realm and Absalon can grant him, he'll be bending over backwards before us. We won't tell him who the new king is yet and for all we know, he won't even care to ask. For him, he'd left Erion to die in a ditch after brutally reducing him to a pulp as kids, so he probably thinks he died,"

"That's true," she waved him off as her eyes travelled along Aikon's sleeping form in the tank for a while before a smile broke across her face, "You know, it would be good if the boy joined our side. He's pretty strong and potent for his age anyways, and after he heals up his power level will skyrocket and he'll make a great ally to our cause,"

"No, it's too soon to tell whether he'll join us or not," Karifuwara finished off, "Prince Aikon may be a doppelganger of his old man, but his heart and mind are completely different. Besides it's like Captain said; if any of them try to step out of line, we'll have no trouble wiping them out anyway. Nobody will miss them,"

With that, they both turned and headed out the healing room as the two sleeping boys were left to themselves.

Aikon's closed eyes twitched a little as bubbles erupted from his oxygen mask and he began having flashbacks from his childhood;

...

"Get out of my way, woman!" a loud deep voice roared as the sound of a slap could be heard, "It's time I kill this wretched disgrace myself, right here and now!"

A tall and muscular Saiyan stomped over to a small five year old boy who stumbled over the floor and pressed against the wall; tears of fear forming in his eyes as he looked on in fear at his approaching attacker,

The boy had a natural tan complexion, spiky jet black hair that stood up straight at the top of his head with one long black bang falling on the front of his forehead and another smaller on the left corner of his face, sharp deep black fear-stricken eyes and a dark brown tail that quivered behind him. He had a series of cuts and bruises all over his face and body and he wore a broken white and yellow royal battle suit with a torn yellow cape, white gloves and boots and a torn dark blue bodysuit.

His attacker looked identical to him but with a light brown tail, a much paler complexion and a cross-shaped scar across his left cheek. His eyes were knitted in fury as he looked down over at the boy below him. The man was dressed in a white and grey royal battle suit with a dark blue bodysuit underneath, heavily jewelled metal gloves and boots, a red cape and a chain with a large pendant of rubies and silver on his neck. His hand glowed with red energy as he grinned sadistically at the boy and readied himself,

"This is the last time you'll EVER disgrace me again," he pulled his hand back to release a Bomber DX, "Aaarrghh!"

He was interrupted as a string of ki blasts from a woman lying nearby struck him in the back, breaking his momentum,

She had short jet black hair which were curly from the base and wavy off the top, almond shaped black eyes and a dark brown tail wrapped around her waist. She wore a heavily damaged white and dark purple royal battle suit, a red bodysuit underneath with purple edging near her hips, white gloves and boots, and a purple cape behind her.

"Step... away... from my... son!" she huffed as she staggered to her feet, bleeding from her face, "H-how can you be so cruel, Abbage..? Aikon deserves your love, not THIS!"

"Shut it Carro! I can kill you right here right now if I need to, but I won't right now so you'd better be thankful for that," he smacked her away with the back of his hand as he turned to the boy, "As for this disgrace who so happens to be my son; he'll suffer the consequences for double crossing me!"

"I-I didn't know I wasn't allowed to s-share some of my zeni with the poor people, father," little Aikon begged as he dropped to his knees, "Please don't hurt mommy for it- ooof!" he was cut short as a boot came into his face and kicked him back,

"NO!" Carro yelled as she summoned what little strength she had and knocked her husband back with a kick before she pulled her hands together behind her to release a weak, "GALICK GUN!" as Abbage was sent back crashing his head into a thick glass table where he remained knocked out for a while,

"Ughh... m-mommy..? Where are we going?" Aikon mumbled as he realized his mother was running off somewhere with him in her arms, "What happened to father?"

"Your father is temporarily knocked out darling, just long enough to get us to safety," she kissed his forehead as they entered a healing room and she set him on a hospital bed; stripping him off of his tattered clothes as she began cleaning his wounds with an antiseptic,

"It hurts..!" he winced as the stinging liquid touched his cuts and bruises,

Carro tried to hold back a sob as she realized that no amount of medication was about to heal the fresh permanent scars that now snaked across his chest, shoulders and thighs.

"Does it look that bad..?"

"No honey, don't worry about it, mommy's right here with you everything will be fine," she stroked his spiky hair as she cooed in his ear, "It will all be over soon,"

After she was done cleaning and looking him over, she carried his small form over to a healing tank and placed him inside; gazing at him lovingly through the glass. Soon enough, her own strength gave way and she passed out onto the tiled floor below her feet.

...

"Do it! Finish it right here," Abbage yelled furiously at his now ten year old son as he and a few other elites stood towering over a severely beat up savage Saiyan couple and their bawling baby, "End their pathetic worthless existence,"

Aikon stood there speechless before he pulled up a hand and aimed it at the family as a yellow glow illuminated off his palm,

"That's it boy, make them suffer,"

"H-have mercy milord," the man begged as he fell at Abbage's feet, only to receive a hard kick in the face. Then his sad eyes turned to Aikon,

"Please have mercy on us,"

He couldn't do it. He couldn't bring himself to destroy a low class Saiyan family just because they hadn't been able to pay their gross produce to the king,

"I-I'm sorry, father," he stuttered as he slowly began to lower his hand; his eyes never leaving the teary ones of the man, his wife and their infant child, "They didn't do anything wrong and they're innocent people, I j-just can't kill them-"

"What did you SAY?" the king boomed in response as he yanked his son by the hair and lifted him up painfully to meet his face, "You are a Saiyan! You are born to a ruthless warrior race that shows mercy to nobody!"

"Violence is never the solution to everything!" he mustered the courage as he glared back in his father's face, "I know what we are, but that doesn't mean we be brutish in order to-"

"YOU DARE RAISE YOUR VOICE AGAINST ME!?" he boomed as he slammed Aikon's face in the ground hard; his ki flared and the other soldiers took a few steps back, "Get out of my sight before I have you killed, you disrespectful, ungrateful, disobeying little wretch!"

A few hours passed as they soon arrived back to the castle. Aikon marched into his room and quickly changed out of his slightly tattered royal battle suit into a more basic-looking black and brown battle suit with matching gloves and boots, and a black underwear underneath before slipping on a white cape over it before he slowly opened his window and quickly flew out into the cool night sky before anyone could look; far away from the castle.

He landed behind some shops in the busy market district as he came out and looked around himself, staring in awe at the neon lights from the stalls, the street hawkers hastily selling their ware and Saiyans of all age and gender busily making their way across the dirt roads,

"Whoa, this place looks even livelier at night," he waved back at the merchants and shopkeepers as he passed by them, "I could get used to an ordinary life like this,"

"Get back here ya thief!" an enraged woman's voice screeched from an alley nearby as a small boy came running out carrying scraps of half-eaten food in his arms, "Those are MY scraps, go get your own!"

"Jeez lady, have a heart," he called back, "I haven't eaten anything all day!"

'Looks like he could use some help,' Aikon thought,

The boy didn't look any older than eleven. He had spiky black hair that stood erect behind the back and top of his head with a broad forehead, sharp black eyes and a light brown tail that swung behind him as he ran for his life. He wore nothing more than a ragged white tank top and torn old blue gi pants. No shoes or gloves,

"Pssst, over here," Aikon whispered at him as they both hid under a few crates, waiting for the woman to disappear,

"Phew, that was a close one," Yamoshi climbed out of their hiding spot as he grinned happily at Aikon, "Thanks for having my back there, what's your name?"

"Aikon," he replied as the other boy gave him a quizzical look,

"Huh... funny name," he chuckled which made the young prince roll his eyes in annoyance, "They call me Yamoshi, nice to meet'cha!" with that they shook hands as Yamoshi stared at him a bit longer, "You remind me of someone I saw in today's newspaper when I was hunting for food in the trash... oh yeah! The king looks a lot like you except you have slightly darker skin,"

"Huh...? W-what, no," Aikon rubbed the back of his head, "Sure I've heard people say I kinda look like him but I'm just a low class Saiyan like you haha," he lied at which Yamoshi just shrugged and seemed to buy it.

To change his mind off of the topic, Aikon pointed to a food stall nearby,

"Hey Yamoshi, are you hungry? I could really go for some eggrolls right about now,"

"Heh, nah it's okay buddy, I don't have any money on me," he eyed the bundle of scraps in his arms, "All I can afford to do is be able to steal these scraps so that I can feed my poor guardians while they come back home after a hard day of labour in the mines," he turned away sadly as he began to head back, "See ya around Aikon, hope we meet again,"

Aikon placed a hand on his shoulder and stopped him,

"It's on me," he said, "Forget these scraps Yamoshi, I'll buy you a dozen eggrolls for you and your parents. You don't deserve these scraps,"

"Y-you'd really do that for me..?" Yamoshi blinked,

"Sure, why not?" he shrugged, "You're kind of like the only friend I have in this small world,"

Yamoshi beamed and raced off as he returned the stolen scraps and came back empty handed,

"I can't tell ya how thankful I am for you doing this for me Aikon, really," he managed to say,

"Don't worry about it, now let's go eat!"

...

A loud beeping sound echoed throughout the healing room as both Aikon and Yamoshi's eyes flew open and they realized where they were. The green water slowly drained itself and they could see a stoic looking balding older Saiyan soldier standing before them as the large glass door slipped open,

"Good to see you're both healed up," he smiled at them as he handed them a pair of grey boxers each, "My name is Lieutenant Karifuwara, and you both should better slip these on. You have visitors,"

"Visitors..?" Aikon mumbled groggily as he and Yamoshi slipped on the underwear and stepped out of their chambers and looked around, still quite unsure what happened, where they were and how did they even survive, "Yamoshi!? You're not dead!"

"Aikon..? You're here t-"

"Yamoshi! Thank goodness you're alright!" a girl squealed as the door opened to reveal Quash, Colrab and Selrie; dressed in their Saiyan School gi followed by Gurki in his dark blue and orange battle suit, gloves and boots,

"Heh, hey guys," Yamoshi waved at them as all three of the teenagers gathered around him in a group hug,

Aikon pretended he didn't see and care, and instead walked over to Gurki, who gave him a pat on the shoulder,

"You look better than ever sire," he commented just out of earshot, "How do you feel?"

Aikon flexed his muscles and smiled up at his older friend,

"Honestly, I feel more powerful than I ever was," he demonstrated as he punched and kicked the air swiftly before him a few times,

"Wow this feels great!" Yamoshi cried out, "What did you guys put in that water I was in?"

"You were inside a healing tank, or otherwise known as a Medical Machine," Karifuwara answered, "It's filled with a special healing liquid that can heal anyone from the brink of death with its cutting edge technology,"

"Awesome..." Colrab awed,

"Ehhhh," Quash shrugged,

"I think the reason why you feel more powerful than before is probably because of your Saiyan cells," Selrie commented as she turned and noticed Aikon for the first time standing on his own a few feet away with Gurki; her eyes widening at the sight of him, "O-oh hi there Aikon, didn't see you there, I-" she paused for a moment as she took in his muscular form and the scars etched across his chest, shoulders and thighs, 'Damn he is hot! And those scars just make him look even more-'

"Uhh, Selrie..? You lost or something?" Colrab snapped his fingers in front of her face, shaking her out of her daze as she looked back at Aikon and noticed him quirking an eyebrow at her,

"I-I what I meant to say was," she cleared her throat, "How do you feel?"

"Stronger than before," the said spiky-haired Saiyan teen answered neutrally as he waved them off and headed to the exit, "See you guys at training tomorrow,"

"Hey Aikon wait up," Yamoshi called out as the Saiyan stopped and turned to face him, "The four of us were just heading over to the mall food court for a bite to eat, you wanna join us?"

"Yeah you should definitely come," Colrab jumped in, "Mc'Dasheen just introduced some cheap deals on some of their burger and fries combos, you'll love them!"

"I could DEFINETELY go for some grub too right about now," Quash nodded in agreement,

"So whad'dya say?"

"Oh uh..." Aikon scratched the back of his head, "I don't know Yam, I think I should probably head back-"

"Aikon, a word?" Gurki whispered in Aikon's ear as he turned to the four, "Give us a minute,"

"What is it Gurki?"

"Sir, I think you should definitely go out with your new friends for dinner," Gurki nodded to the small group of four teenagers behind them, "This may be the start of something big,"

"Gurki, I-I don't know," he argued, "I just don't want to spoil their gathering with my... you know, awkwardness,"

"Trust me your majesty, with all due respect; me and you both know you desperately need some real friends in your life – especially kids your own age. And besides," he smiled at him, "Spending more time out of the house will mean you won't have to worry about facing your father too often either,"

"You..." Aikon tried to counter his friend's argument but sighed, "You have a point. Guess I'll go,"

"Have fun sir," Gurki gave him a thumbs up at which Aikon simply rolled his eyes,

"So we ready to go?" Colrab asked as he saw Aikon approaching,

"Sure, I'm in," Aikon gave them his signature half smile as they cheered and began to head out,

"Not so fast!" Quash interrupted as she pointed at Aikon and Yamoshi, "We aren't going anywhere with you both naked like that,"

"Umm technically, we're not," Yamoshi defended as he thumbed the waistband of his boxers which made the girl facepalm,

"Well then you're _almost_ naked," she emphasized, "Get some clothes on will you two,"

"Oh before I head out sir," Gurki spoke up as he produced a bundle of clothes, "I brought along some training suits with me just in case,"

After changing into the training suits Gurki gave them, Aikon and Yamoshi stepped out of the changing room and looked themselves over,

Aikon was dressed in his usual dark blue sleeveless skin-tight training suit and white gloves and boots which he had worn the day before, while Yamoshi's had a turquoise color scheme and the same white gloves and boots.

"This is by far the best thing you've ever done for me Gurki," Aikon joked at which the older man simply chuckled, "It's good to be in my own skin,"

"Oh wow this is amazing! This fabric is so good it's like wearing nothing at all" Yamoshi looked himself around in the mirror and flexed his biceps, "Uh yeah, that's right!"

"Show off," Quash commented,

"Now can we please go already?!" Colrab called out as he glared at the group from his seat in the corner, "I'm dying of hunger here,"

"You just ate a sandwich ten minutes ago," Selrie blinked,

"That was TEN MINUTES ago!"

As the teens chatted and argued, Aikon couldn't help but genuinely smile for a change. Maybe Gurki was right. Maybe things are finally starting to look up for him,

 _A few hours later at the mall..._

"So I just came in the room and noticed that the mouldy cake had disappeared off the counter," Quash giggled as they all sat together in a booth, enjoying their meals and having a good time, "And there was frosting all over Colrab's face so I asked him, 'Where did the rotten cake go?' and Colrab was all like, 'Wait WHAT!? BLEEEUUGHHH!' and before ya know it, he was choking up rainbows for the next hour!"

They all burst out laughing as Colrab fumed and absentmindedly slurped his strawberry milkshake loudly through his straw,

"It wasn't like that at all!" he yelled, "It's true I can be greedy when it comes to food and it's also true that i threw up, but it didn't happen BEFORE I was in the bathroom, away from this witch," he ended as he pointed a broken fry at Quash,

"Nuh uh, you threw up all over the floor, I was there too!" Selrie wiped a tear as she gasped for breath and tried to contain herself, "You always have been a gluttonous grump,"

"Gluttonous grump?" Aikon quirked an eyebrow at her still smiling, "What are you, some sort of scholar now?"

"Heh you think so?" she pushed a stray bang behind her ear and turned to face him fully, "I've always been an ace in my language, I'll have you know,"

"Oh yeah?" he added, maintaining eye contact as he took a sip of his chocolate milkshake,

"Yeah," she winked at him, before biting into a French fry,

"So Aikon, you never told us where you're from," Colrab spoke up, seizing the opportunity to get the spotlight off of him,

"You really want to know huh?" Aikon turned to the others as he broke finally eye contact with the girl next to him, "Fine, I guess you guys seem trustworthy enough to know,"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yamoshi took a big bite of his fried chicken drumstick,

"You guys ever wonder who the king's son is..." Aikon began,

"Honestly, we don't really think too much on that stuff, but who cares," Quash threw her hands up and twirled some pasta on her fork, "Honestly, I didn't even know he HAD any children but anyways, go on,"

"Well, it may shock you guys but..." Aikon paused as he took a deep breath and continued, "It's me,"

"Come again," Colrab quirked an eyebrow,

"I'm the king's mysterious son who nobody's ever seen, Prince Aikon," he sighed as he leaned back in his seat and waited for the others to burst at him with questions – but they never did,

"So... you don't seem too happy about that," Selrie spoke up as she glanced at him sideways and smiled, catching Aikon off guard with how unaffected she seemed,

"Wait hold up, so you guys are NOT surprised?" he blinked at them as they all shrugged,

"Well we ARE surprised mate, but we're not going to categorize you for it. You're a part of the crew now," Colrab answered,

"Yeah, you'll still be the first and best friend I could ever have," Yamoshi smirked as he raised his cup at him and sipped, "No matter if you're the son of some royalty or a miser, you'll always be the same old Aikon who is always there for me and never asks for anything in return,"

"Exactly," Quash gulped down the last of her slush as she slammed the cup on the table and crushed it in her hands, "For me, you're still the dumb mute weirdo friend I won't ever admit who helped us fight off those Saiba-Freaks,"

"And for me, you're a good and decent friend too," Selrie smiled at him, "That is, if you're willing to accept our friendship, your majesty," she finished off with a giggle,

Aikon shook his head as he genuinely smiled at each of them,

"Thanks everyone, your friendship means a lot to me, really. But please call me Aikon; I'm just like any other person and I don't like it when people refer to me so formally,"

The hours passed by as the five friends talked as if they had known each other since a lifetime, and for once Aikon was confident to face what the future would hold, now that he wasn't all alone in this dark world.

After having their fill, the five teenagers decided to head back over to their own homes to call it a night,

"Well, it has been a trip fellas," Colrab stretched as he pulled off from the group and headed down a separate route waving back, "See you guys at training tomorrow,"

Soon enough, Yamoshi left for the orphanage as well and it was now only Aikon, Selrie and Quash left,

"Guess this is it for us," Quash climbed her front porch as she turned back to Aikon, "We'll meet each other at training tomorrow eh?"

"Seems unavoidable," Aikon replied as Quash fist-bumped him and turned to the door,

"You coming in, Sel?"

"Yeah, I'll be inside in a sec, don't wait up for me," she replied as her cousin shrugged and went in,

"What's up?" Aikon crossed his arms as he looked up at her from the front lawn below; the cool breeze ruffling his bangs, "I know you didn't stay out here at this time to catch a cold,"

"Actually, I just wanted to say goodbye to you myself," she shoved her hands in her pockets as she lightly kicked the ground, glancing up at him sideways; half of her face hidden in the dark shadows as her eyes seemed to glow from below, "I don't usually make friends every day,"

"You and me both," Aikon stated blankly as Selrie couldn't help but join in and laugh, "What?"

"Oh, it's nothing really," she smiled, "I just love the fact how you can manage to sound so blunt and serious sometimes,"

"What do you mean by 'sometimes'?" Aikon retorted as a small unavoidable smile grew across his lips, "You don't completely know me yet,"

"Maybe," she replied as she took a step closer to him, "But I wouldn't mind finding out,"

"Careful there, you're treading in dangerous waters," he mounted the first step as he got a bit closer to her; peaking her interest further,

"I'm a Saiyan, playing with danger is kinda my thing," she took a step closer still, locking her eyes with him,

"Try as you may, this game isn't so easy to play," Aikon climbed the last step as they both now stood directly in front of each other – refusing to look away or blink,

"I'll take my chances," Selrie inched closer to him, adamant on closing the distance between them tonight,

"Hey Sel, mom's making hot cocoa with marshmallows and some cookies to go on the side," Quash' voice interrupted them as she called loudly from inside the house, "Get your butt in here and if Aikon's there, call him in as well we've got plenty,"

"Damn you Quash... well Aikon, you wanna go in and grab a-" Selrie smiled and turned around to find that nobody was there anymore, "Aikon..? Where did you go?"

She walked out and looked the area before she finally gave up and sadly went inside the house. Unbeknownst to her though; Aikon was hiding on their rooftop just out of her field of vision,

"I'm sorry I had to do that Selrie," he sighed sadly as he watched her disappear, "But you don't deserve me... none of me,"

With that, he gave the house one last glance and shot out into the clear night sky.

 **End Episode (Outro Song: "Rock the Dragon")**

 _Aikon and his friends reunite the next day for training at Kalabash' only to find a mysterious new visitor interrupt them. What business do they want with the Saiyan School and what are their intentions for 'the future of Sadal?'_

 _Find out in the upcoming episode; "The Visitor – Unleash your Power!"_

 _Next time on Dragon Ball XA._


	3. Episode 3

**(Intro Song: "Cha-La Head Cha-La")**

 _Episode_ _#3: "The Visitor – Unleash your Power!"_

"Take this! Hyaaa!" Colrab yelled out as he kicked Yamoshi away and boost dashed after him across the dojo before sending him flying upwards with a finishing kick and raising his arms above his head,

"SEEKER BOMBS!"

Yamoshi stopped mid-flight and crossed his arms in front of himself, summoning ki barrier around himself,

"Smart thinking using 'Super Guard', Yamoshi," Kalabash called out from his position at the head of the stage as he looked ahead at his sparring students, "Defence is sometimes the best offense,"

'Defence is the best offense huh..?' Yamoshi thought to himself as he smirked down at Colrab and an idea popped in his head as he lowered his arms back down,

"What'cha thinking 'bout Yam?" Colrab started, "Don't tell me that's all you've got. I haven't even started yet hehe..."

"Getting cocky, eh Colrab?" Yamoshi smirked, "We'll see who's the victor soon enough... haaaaaaaa!" he yelled as he charged up his ki and boost dashed over to Colrab at a blinding speed and kicked him hard in the gut; sending him flying,

"Gaaacck..!" Colrab gagged as he spat up some saliva and struggled to roll to a stop,

"Ooooof!" Aikon, Selrie and Quash cried from the sidelines, "That's gotta hurt,"

"HaaaAAA!" Yamoshi flew over to Colrab and drove his fist upwards as he uppercutted and sent him doubling over; breaking his stamina, then dashing forward and unleashing a fifteen hit combo mixed with light and hard blows before he pulled back his hand as it glowed with a blue ki,

"TYRANT LANCER!"

With that, Yamoshi flew a feet forward and released the ki ball hard against Colrab's face as he was sent flying out of the ring and crashing hard against the opposing walls.

A loud metallic gong rang out through the dojo, signalling the elimination of a fighter;

"K.O.!" Kalabash called out, "Impressive work Yamoshi, I see you haven't been slacking in your training,"

The spiky swept-up haired boy rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and went over to the edge as he jumped off and bent down to where Colrab lay,

Yamoshi wore a long white sleeveless gi top with a black stripe across the front that covered the top half of his black gi pants, the Saiyan School symbol plastered on his front left side, a black belt tied around his waist, no wristbands and black martial art boots with a grey sole and white shin guards.

"Heh, you gotta teach me that someday mate," Colrab grinned up at him as he scratched the back of his head and took his friend's hand, hoisting himself up,

"Next up... Aikon and Quash, take your positions."

The two teenagers, already dressed in their gi, took the opposite ends of the arena as they assumed their respective battle stances,

"Hope you're ready for this _Prince_ Aikon," Quash cracked her knuckles as she grinned at him, "Cos I've got an itch that needs scratching and YOU'RE gonna scratch it,"

"That sounds creepy and lewd!" Colrab called out from the stands followed by a giggle from Selrie and a small chuckle from Yamoshi,

Aikon simply responded with his usual cold gaze as he kept his face straight,

"Ready..? FIGHT!" Kalabash yelled as the gong chimed, signalling the start.

"Show me what'chu got, haaaaa!" she dashed over to him and they both clashed in a series of punches and kicks before Quash blocked a punch from Aikon and they both spun to a stop, "Grrrr, take this..!"

Quash leapt forward with a punch as Aikon blocked it and z-vanished behind her; punched her upside the head, grabbed her and threw her hard against the far ends of the arena,

"Whoooaaoaaoaaa!" Quash spun around to regain her balance and she stopped herself just in time before falling out, "Why you little... aaargh..!"

She was interrupted as Aikon was upon her once again and furiously punching and kicking her in a series of fierce blows,

"Atatatatatatatatatatatata!" he yelled as he pushed her back more and more,

"Uugh... Urrkk... Ooof..!"

'A perfectly timed "Meteor Crash" eh?' Kalabash stroked his beard as he eyed the match curiously, 'That boy is growing at a far greater pace than I can comprehend... could that be the result of the hidden potential of his I have been noticing these past few years..?'

"Amazing!" Yamoshi and Colrab stared at the fight with wide eyes, "Quash barely laid a finger on Aikon. It's like he's purposely toying with her or something..."

Selrie on the other hand was speechless as she sat there both terrified yet somehow rather intrigued and impressed by the amount of power her... ahem... 'crush' was displaying.

"What's the matter Quash?" Aikon taunted her in between blows, "Does THAT scratch your itch yet?"

The teenage girl did a Super Back Jump as her means of an Evasive and regained her balance at the far end of the arena, catching her breath and smiling back at Aikon,

"Not bad Aikon, not bad at all. You have my respect," she wiped her bruised cheek and regained her stance, "But now it's MY turn to shine,"

"Hmph, amuse me," he replied with a simple arm cross,

"HaaaaaAAAAA!" she charged her ki as much as she could and boost dashed over to Aikon, punching him hard and breaking his stamina, sending him staggering back;

"Arrghh..." he hissed in pain as Quash smiled back,

"Hehe I call this one; Impulse Slash," she pulled back her left hand and continued with a hard punch to the gut followed by a series of powerful punches before kicking him hard in the chest twice and sending him flying upwards,

"DAAAMN!" the three teenagers hollered,

Quash z-vanished to Aikon's estimated knockback position, sledgehammering him down with all her might as she pulled back both hands and released a barrage of ki blasts,

"Haaaaaaaaaaaa!" she cried as each blast made contact with Aikon's back as he was sent bouncing about the arena platform, finally landing on his back as he quickly jumped back up and cracked his neck;

"Finally, a serious challenge after so long!" he smirked, "Now come at me, or is that all the juice you had in you,"

"Don't tell me what to do, hiya!" she shot back as they clashed together in a series of more punches and blows; sizing each other up,

"How barbaric yet impressive you Saiyans are," a smooth female voice called out, followed by a few slow claps and the clicking of heels as a woman made herself seen, "Such incredible power at such a young age..."

Aikon and Quash stopped mid-fight as all the six Saiyans turned to look at her.

The woman had a curvaceous and slender frame with long white hair, light blue skin, a beautiful face with pointed ears and slanted eyes with purple irises and black pupils. The hair on the right side of her face was longer than the other and hung in front of her chest. She had a golden infinity symbol on the back of her head, securing her hair and covering the back and both sides of her head. She also wore gold and dark purple earrings and a red and black skin tight body suit that reflected like shiny rubber in the daylight seeping through the dojo's windows and a V-shaped cavity around her front; exposing part of her light blue stomach, navel and the bottom half of her breasts. She also wore a white open leg cape jagged at the bottom and with her long legs ending in red and black heels.

She wasn't a Saiyan that's for sure, and neither did she look like anyone either of them had ever seen in their lives. Besides, her rather strange clothing and appearance gave way as well,

"And who the hell are you supposed to be lady?" Quash yelled out to her, "Can't you see we're in the middle of something important here?"

The woman simply raised her eyebrow at the younger girl and her smile dropped into a sour expression as she looked around the dojo with her arms folded in front of her chest. Her eyes settled on the approaching frame of Kalabash as the corners of her lips tugged upwards and her eyes seemingly narrowed,

"The famed Saiyan martial artist Kalabash," she pointed a manicured light blue finger with red nail polish at the man, "Come with me at once. My brother and I have some _business_ to discuss with you..."

"A Saiyan doesn't follow orders from a Demon woman who dresses like a space stripper," Kalabash snapped as he folded his arms before him, "Get out of my dojo, Towa," he shook his head and turned around waving his hand as he walked off, "I don't have time to waste on you. Leave now while you can still walk or my students would more than gladly take care of you instead,"

The woman's composed demeanour from before dropped as she gritted her teeth in annoyance,

"Cocky little... fine," she brushed a stray strand of white hair aside as she summoned a long dark brown staff with a sharp gold point each at the end, "I won't repeat myself; come with me now and I won't have to embarrass your students too much,"

Upon saying that, all five teenagers reassembled in the woman's path and assumed their respective battle stances, locking their eyes with the blue skinned woman, as she simply laughed at their antics,

 **Battle BGM: "DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi 2 – Power Rush"**

"You honestly think a group of children stand a chance against me? Oh please," she gripped her staff in both hands and smiled, "Let's see how strong you measly Saiyans really are,"

"Why don't we see to it then, haaaa!" Colrab yelled as he flew over to Towa and began to rain a barrage of kicks and punches at her, throwing her to her feet as she fell hard on her back,

"Ugh..! Why you..."

"BIG BANG ATTACK!" Selrie yelled as she jumped in front of the woman before she could get up and opened her palm; releasing a powerful blast of blue ki that sizzled and exploded on impact; sending her toppling backwards before she jumped back up, winked and disappeared suddenly in a red pillar of energy, "Huh, where'd she go?"

"Behind you," the woman whispered in Selrie's ear, reappearing behind her as she began to whack her around with her staff a few times before kicking her away, sending her toppling into Colrab as they both fell off the arena stage, followed by a large blast of energy from the woman that closed around them and knocked them both out,

"Haaaaa!" Aikon yelled as he dashed over to her and blew her away with a powerful kick as she flew in front of Yamoshi's path and he uppercutted her high in the air,

"Aarrghh!" she cried in pain as she collided with the roof above in a painful crunch and jumped back, glaring at both the boys, "I'll make you pay for that you runts!"

"Why don't come down here and say that to our faces then," Yamoshi taunted her, "Or have you had enough?"

"Grrrr, I'll show you just enough!" she shot back as she dashed over to Aikon; whacking him hard in the face pushing him away before she clenched her hand and tossed a ball of dark energy towards Yamoshi as it spread across, "Here monkey, catch!"

"Uhhh..." he gasped as he felt himself go heavier slightly, his movements slowing down. He looked down and noticed that his body had become a darker mix of purple as well, "What the... what did you do to me..?"

"Hehe, impressive isn't it? I call it Bloody Sauce," she replied gleefully as she dashed over to him and began hitting him with her staff numerous times before slamming into his gut and smacking him away, "Try to get up after THAT why don't you!"

"Yamoshi!" Quash yelled as she jumped onto the battlefield next to Aikon, nodding to him as they both sized the tall woman who barely looked as if she had a single scratch on her,

"Three down, three more to go," she mumbled to herself as she casually sat on her staff in mid-air and rubbed her nails, "I really should get out and exercise, this has been too easy,"

"I'll make you pay for that!" Quash yelled angrily as she dashed over to her and began rapidly punching and kicking the woman who simply dodged all her blows and hummed to herself which pissed off the young girl even more, "Just. Stand. Still. Dammit!"

"That all you got sweety? I thought you had more than that in you,"

At that, Quash widened her legs in a stance and raised her palm up at the woman's midsection,

"Try dodging this one, DESDO CANNON!" she yelled as a small ball of purple and white ki escaped her palm and exploded in a wide green explosion around her, "How's THAT!?"

"Tch... not bad, but not good enough," she rubbed her belly as she got to her feet shortly after; a series of minor cuts all over her face and stomach area as she pointed her staff at Quash' face, "Time to end this,"

The woman combo-ed the girl a few more times and kicked her down as she came crashing against the marble flooring below,

"Dammit she's too strong," Aikon winced as he rubbed his sore jaw and helped Quash to her feet, "We can't beat her like this one on one,"

"Are you saying we give up!?" Quash glared at him as he gave her a dumbfounded look,

"What..? No! I'm saying fighting her head on is pointless. She may not look like a fighter but she's smart and she probably knows all our moves," he whispered, "We need to come up with a plan,"

He looked back up at her and saw that she sat in the same position in mid air as before, beckoning them to come closer,

"Well..? What do you have in mind, Captain Obvious?" Quash snapped, "Any bright ideas or are you just gonna stand there gaping at that thot?"

"Right now we have strength in numbers," he began in a low whisper so that she wouldn't hear them, "I say if we both work together, we may have the upper hand on her. She can't defend herself against us both if she's blinded, know what I mean?"

"Okay, but what do we do exactly?"

"Remember that new skill Master taught us the other day?" he smirked, "The one that homes in on our opponents and takes them out with multiple bloody ki blasts?"

Quash' eyes widened as she recognized what he was referring to,

"But that skill's only effective IF you succeed a combo and it's liable to miss if you're not too careful,"

"Just follow my lead, Quash," the young boy finished, "Wait for my signal here and keep a look out where she falls. The closer you are, the better,"

"Alright Aikon, like the way you think," she grinned as tightened her black fingerless gloves, "Just remember that if we fail, I'm going to whoop you myself after,"

The spiky haired teenager shook his head as his face grew serious once more and he flew up towards the floating woman,

"About time you decided to act, I was beginning to get bored and was just about to blow this whole damned dojo into oblivion,"

Aikon simply stared coldly as he began to charge his ki all the way, making the floor below shake slightly with the power he released, "HaaaaaaaaaAAAAAA!"

'Whoa, he was hiding that kind of power in him all along..?' Quash gasped, 'I-inconceivable,"

"Impressive power level for a boy of fourteen," the woman replied in a bored voice, "I'd even go as far as to say that you're probably already stronger than the rest of your weakling friends here, however you're still no match against me,"

"Hmph," he mumbled as he assumed his stance,

"Really? Is that all you're gonna say after I... aacckk!" she was interrupted as Aikon punched her hard in the face at an incredible speed and sent her falling backwards as she lost her balance on her staff. With that, he followed up with a few more light and hard combos on her before kicking her upwards and then z-vanished above her again, delivering a hard sledgehammer at her pretty face, sending her back down as he clenched both hands as they began to glow with red ki, "Now Quash! Get ready,"

"Right!" she cried as she ran closest and stood above the woman, clenching her hands the same way as Aikon and readied herself as they too began to surge with the same red glow,

"Huh..?" the woman cocked an eyebrow as she struggled to her feet, "What's this supposed to be?"

"Now!"

"SEEKER MISSILES!" both shouted at once,

Aikon and Quash shot out a lighting fast barrage of small red ki blasts each, striking the woman from all sides; Aikon's homing in on her from behind as he fired from above while Quash' blasts hit her at point blank range right in the face,

The woman shrieked in pain for one last time as she finally collapsed face-down in a heap on the arena stage.

"Haa.. haa.. haa.." Quash gasped for air as she fell back on her butt; Aikon came back on the ground moments later, glaring at the woman before he ran over to check on Colrab and Selrie, "Hey Aikon, you think she's dead?"

"No, not quite..." Kalabash spoke up as he walked towards the far end and lifted up Yamoshi's beat up form, "But we shouldn't take any chances,"

"What do we do with her, Master?" Quash questioned, "We can't just leave her, what if we leave her unchecked and sh-... hfff!"

"What if she what..?" Aikon turned to look at her as his eyes widened, "No!"

But Quash couldn't talk as the woman was mysteriously back on her feet once more and squeezing the young girl's throat; her face twisted in annoyance and anger,

"You should've come with me when you had the chance old man, but no," she seethed, "Instead you decided to waste my time with these delinquents,"

"Let her go this instant!" Kalabash growled as he and Aikon readied themselves, to which the woman simply laughed,

"Oh I will, just as soon as her neck snaps in half," she answered as she squeezed a bit tighter and made the Saiyan girl gag,

Aikon was shaking with fury as he was resisted the urge to jump in and save his friend, but couldn't risk endangering Quash even more. This woman was completely unpredictable,

"You want me? Fine, take me with you," the elder Saiyan called out, "But let my student go, she doesn't need to die,"

"Oh no, you were the one who wanted to involve these children in your mess," she smirked, "I wonder if you have half the spine as you had from before,"

"Master Kalabash, what does she mean..?" Aikon questioned, not taking his eyes off her,

"I don't know what you're talking about, woman," Kalabash argued, "And besides, it all happened a long time ago, and it was that old coot who lied to me and tried using me for my power,"

"And he should have taken the chance to Turn you back then," the woman sneered, "Maybe then you'd be of some use to us,"

"And why are you here now, then?" Kalabash sighed and rubbed his brow, "After all these years, you decide to show yourself once again. I believe you've forgotten what defeat felt like,"

"You are still as naïve as he said you'd be," she chuckled as she gave Quash' neck one final squeeze before tossing her into Aikon,

"What..?" Kalabash quirked his eyebrow,

"Allow me to show you the REAL power of the Dark Empire," she aimed her staff towards both Aikon and Quash as a dark and evil energy enveloped both of them, "With the power of my dark magic, I'll turn your own students into your enemies and make you see!"

"Aaaarrghh!" Aikon and Quash yelled in pain as their power levels began to spike up; a dark purple aura and glow enveloped their bodies and their eyes turned a glowing red color as the turned to glare at Kalabash,

 **Battle BGM: "DBZ Budokai – A Hero's Desperation"**

"Now my minions, come forth," she pointed towards Kalabash, "Kill the Saiyan!"

"With pleasure," Quash grumbled as both her and Aikon dashed over to Kalabash and began raining blows upon blows at their former master.

"Arghh... try to fight it both of you..." Kalabash tried his best to block off the attacks, but with little to no avail. Aikon and Quash were too much for him in their current, "This isn't how you both are... she's got you both mind-controlled..."

"It's no use old man," Towa smirked, "They only listen to ME now. The only way they'll snap out of my Brainwash technique is if you beat them out of it, but I doubt you can last much longer from the way your power level is fading by each blow you take,"

Aikon spin-kicked Kalabash thrice, sending him crashing down towards Quash who grabbed him just before impact and threw him hard against the opposing wall.

Meanwhile at another corner of the dojo, someone was stirring...

"Ouch! Man... what a night," Colrab groaned as he slowly regained consciousness and pretty soon found himself lying next to Selrie's out cold form – the dojo in utter chaos.

He turned to the source of the loud commotion and jaw-dropped as he saw Aikon and Quash teaming up against Master Kalabash – and winning! Something about them seemed... different and evil now,

"Oh would you look at that," Towa smirked as she looked down at Colrab's pissed expression at her, "Another one joins the fray,"

"You!" he boost dashed towards her angrily, not bothering that he was still pretty weak and pretty winded after just waking up less than a minute ago, "What did you do to my friends!?"

"Nothing close to what I'm about to do now, observe," she pointed her staff towards Aikon once more as a white bolt of energy shot out this time,

Aikon stopped mid-step as he advanced towards Kalabash with his fist raised, as if he was momentarily frozen in time,

"What are you doing to him!?" Colrab pulled back his fist as he reared for a punch only to be kicked in the stomach by Quash who was upon him in a millisecond, "Q-quash..!?"

The said girl didn't let him finish as she pummelled him hard to the ground before standing atop him and stomping his ribs as the young teenager yelled in pain,

Meanwhile, Towa focused her magic and attention completely on Aikon now, as she closed her eyes and waved her staff; chanting a series of words in some unknown language,

Kalabash took the opportunity as he lifted himself off the ground and unleashed a series of full powered Seeker Bombs at Towa – but to no effect. Her magic had wrapped her in a protective cocoon of energy,

"Now my pet," Towa finally spoke out loud as she waved her staff one last time, "Transform!"

"Uughhh… huuaarrrrrghhhhh!" Aikon yelled out in pain as the veins on his forehead popped out and he clutched his head, falling to his knees; his aura darkening from before. Kalabash as well as both Colrab and Quash eyed their friend with wide eyes as he began to transform.

His tail began to beat loudly as his muscles expanded and bulged until the top of his white gi and black undershirt tore off. His incisors grew at an alarming rate as his face began to take on a more ape-like appearance and brown hair began to grow from all over his body; tearing off his clothes completely until he stood there with nothing but his grey boxers made of the same stretchable material from what the Saiyans made their bodysuits. It wasn't long before Aikon had broken through the roof of the dojo and was fully grown to the massive height of a skyscraper.

He roared out into the setting daylight, scaring off a few local Saiyans outside as they scrambled for life,

"H-how is this possible!?" Kalabash glared at Towa, clearly furious, "There's still light out and there's no source of blutz waves anywhere! How the hell did you make him transform into his Great Ape form like this and why!?"

The woman simply laughed at this as she shook her head and placed a hand on her hip,

"Don't you see it yet Kalabash?" she began, "Your own race will be the death of your planet and this is just the prelude to something greater you just don't know it yet. What would be more perfect than an enraged and confused young Great Ape causing mass chaos wherever he goes?"

"Y-you won't get away with this..." Colrab hissed in pain from his position on the ground, "Our soldiers will come for you and-"

"Oh and nothing! You and your entire race are no match against the power or the Demon Realm. Besides, it's not that they'll fight for YOU anyways – now that they have to look forward to something far greater. You better keep an eye out for who your real friends are and who's no- aaahh!"

Towa was interrupted as two charged ki blasts struck her hard in the face and she pulled back to catch her bearings. Colrab looked behind him to notice who it was and smiled,

It was Yamoshi and Selrie, back on their feet.

"Time for payback," Yamoshi gritted his teeth as he pulled back his hand and tossed three to four large balls of purple energy towards the Brainwashed Quash, "GENOCIDE SHELL!"

The energy spheres sizzled and exploded in a loud bang as they made contact with Quash and she flew back in a high tailspin with Yamoshi dashing after her,

"Selrie, check on Colrab and get him to safety," he called out, "I'll hold off Quash and make her snap out of this madness,"

Selrie nodded and rushed to Colrab's side as she lifted his arm over her shoulder and hoisted him up,

"Oww, easy there Sel!" Colrab hissed as they both sneaked over to the medicine room and slid the screen door behind them without Towa or Great Ape Aikon noticing them,

"Hold still, this may sting a little," she laid Colrab back down on the bedroll as she helped him pull his torn clothes off and rubbed some antiseptic on his wounds, ignoring his hisses and yelps, "Heh, you always were sort of a baby..." she teased,

"H-hey!" he cried as he tried to hold back the screams, "Y-you're not the one with a dislocated shoulder, broken ribs and a hole in your- OWWW!"

"Sshhh! Quiet down you big wuss!" she whispered loudly, "Do you WANT that crazy Demon lady to spot us?!"

"..."

"That's what I thought," she rolled her eyes and finished patching him up before wrapping his forehead, arm and left leg in bandages, "There that oughta do it. Better?"

Colrab sighed as he finally felt his muscles relax and closed his eyes as the pain slowly receded,

"Much better, thanks Sel," Colrab looked up a little while later to notice that she was now standing behind the screen door and peeping out through a small cavity, "See something..?"

"Well, the good news is that Quash is back to normal and she's now helping Yamoshi and Master Kalabash take down..." she paused as she took a breather and continued, "Take down Aikon,"

"Oh," was all he could say, "What about that crazy Demon stripper lady?"

Selrie shook her head and came back to sit at Colrab's side,

"I don't see her, maybe she left or something..."

A few moments passed in awkward silence as Selrie disappeared around a corner, striped off her gi and stood in front of a tall mirror, examining herself for any injuries; finding nothing but cuts and bruises which she cleaned and bandaged – nothing too serious. Colrab looked back at her after she was dressed in a now purple robe and spoke up to break the ice;

"Penny for your thoughts..?"

"Hmm?" she turned to him with wide eyes as she met Colrab's curious black ones and shook her head in response, "I-it's nothing, why do you ask?"

"You know, we've been friends since we were four and I somehow know when you're lying. You can tell me anything Sel, really..."

At this Selrie looked away and awkwardly rubbed her arm before she took a deep breath and spoke again; sitting herself at her friend's side,

"I was just thinking about... y'know," was all she could say,

Colrab raised an eyebrow at her before it dawned on him and his eyes widened,

"Oh I see... _him_ ," he nodded solemnly, "Well to be fair, we're all thinking about him right now so don't worry. I'm sure Master, Yamoshi and Quash have it all under-"

"You know what I meant by that Colrab," she sighed as she held her hands firmly in front of her and looked down, a slight blush forming around her cheeks,

The messy black haired hybrid-Saiyan scooted over to his friend as he hoisted himself up and pulled her close in a one-armed hug,

"There, there Sel, it's okay," Colrab looked down at her sympathetically, "Don't beat yourself over it. I'm sure he likes you too,"

"No Colrab, he doesn't!" she snapped as she fought back a sob, "I completely made a fool of myself last night and he probably thinks I'm some sort of clingy schoolgirl with a crush or something,"

"Whoa hold it right there," he pulled back to look at her with a quizzical look, "Last night..? What do you mean, what happened last night?"

Selrie continued to tell him how after both him and Yamoshi left for their homes, Aikon tagged along with them and walked them home, and how she stayed behind while Quash went in and that small talk she and Aikon had.

"So as we were talking about 'stuff'," she continued, "I couldn't help but notice how close we were both standing and I just... umm, well-"

"You kissed..?"

"Almost," she sighed sadly, "I was about to close the distance between us when Quash just suddenly HAD to yell from inside the house that Aunt Callio had made us all hot cocoa and cookies. By the time I turned back to see, Aikon was gone. He hasn't talked to me today at all and I think I might've offended him by rushing things or something... I don't know but I just think I butchered any chances I had with him,"

Colrab stroked his chin and pondered on all the things Selrie had told him – thinking of a way to put it as simply for Selrie as he thought he could,

"Well, it's hard to say how Aikon felt about all this. I mean, the guy's basically unreadable that's for sure," he replied, "But no, I don't think her hates you though. He's just a bit... closed off unlike the rest of us. Even yesterday you could see he didn't really talk that much to any of us except passing general one word comments and occasionally laughing at our lame jokes and stories,"

"So what do I do about all _this_?" Selrie said, "It's pretty obvious how I feel about Aikon. I mean, you know how we've had other guy friends too growing up, but it's just that there's something about him that stands out from the rest,"

"Like his good looks..?" he raised an eyebrow, "Gotta admit we Saiyans can be ugly as sin sometimes, but Aikon's one of the very few that can make a LOT of the girls' heads turn, and let's not forget how you did call him 'cute' the other day, which proves it,"

"Heh, his devilish good looks are indeed a plus point," she chewed her bottom lip as she tucked a stray strand of black hair back and spoke again in a more thoughtful tone, "It's like... there's more to him that meets the eye, like an inner battle he's fighting or something else related to it altogether. I just want to be there for him whenever I can, y'know?"

"Frankly as cheesy as it may sound to me, but yes," he nodded slightly, "I kind of know how you feel and what it's like to be in deep love,"

"Wait... you do?! Who's the lucky girl? And why didn't you ever tell me before?!"

Colrab chuckled and shook his head as he smiled sadly,

"Nah Sel, it doesn't really matter," he shrugged, "It's pretty clear she doesn't feel the same way about me,"

"Aww, does she like someone else or something?"

"Not sure, or maybe she does..? I don't know to be honest," he ruffled his messy hair, "All I know is that she just thinks of me as a good friend for now, and that's all,"

"Well, I think you should try to start as beings friends as well and then maybe see where it takes you both in the future," she replied, "Or maybe sometimes it's better to stay as friends than lovers, is what Aunt Callio says sometimes,"

"We'll see," he nodded as he made eye contact with Selrie for a short while then broke off suddenly, "I... think we should go and check what's happened outside. It's awfully quiet for some reason all of a sudden,"

"Oh no, you're not going anywhere," she gently pushed Colrab back down on the bedroll, "You need to rest. I'll go and see what's going o- whooaaa!"

Selrie slipped on the polished hardwood as she began to get back up on her feet and ended up falling right on Colrab's chest. The boy lowered his eyes slightly and noticed that the top half of her purple robe was had slightly become loose and he was getting a pretty good view of her pale and creamy cleavage,

Instantly he could feel his cheeks burn up and blood rush towards his groin...

"O-oh..! I'm so sorry," she apologized awkwardly as she scrambled to her feet and furiously tied the front strings of the robe as she rushed to the corner area of the room and quickly began to change back into her damaged gi,

Colrab meanwhile looked up at the wooden ceiling and tried to process what the heck had happened. He looked down to his white briefs and noticed a pretty obvious bulge forming 'down there',

'Dammit...' he cursed inwardly as he furiously tried to hide it before Selrie could return, 'I hope she didn't see me like this or else I won't be able to show my face to her OR Quash ever again,'

His mind couldn't help but flash back to the view he had seen a few minutes ago which seemingly worsened his current condition more. Finally deciding on the fact that he couldn't REALLY do anything about his awkward boner, Colrab simply grabbed his gi lying on the floor and pretended to inspect it as he heard Selrie come back out around the corner;

"Okay Colrab I'm heading out, if you need anything just-" she noticed him awkwardly fumbling the inner lace of his gi pants with slightly trembling hands, "Umm, what're you doing?"

"Oh! N-nothing hehe..." he smiled back at her as if it really was nothing, "I was just checking to see if my pants weren't damaged or anything,"

"Oh, okay... well anyways, be back soon with the others," she gave him a short wave and jogged outside, closing the screen door behind her,

Colrab fell back on the bedroll as he tossed his clothes aside and rubbed his eyes warily, as he let out a loud sigh of frustration,

"Dammit Selrie, how do you ALWAYS manage to make me feel this way," he frowned as he closed his eyes in thought and he touched the area of his chest where she had touched him, "Too bad your heart already belongs to another,"

Meanwhile, Selrie was flying over the various buildings at top speed undetected as she followed the sound of Aikon's growling growing louder by the minute. How did he get so far away in such a little time? It couldn't have been THIS long since she had gone,

She squinted in the now darkening pink and orange sky as she finally noticed the figure of a giant ape far off from the city swatting angrily at three flying figures zooming around it. His dark aura from before had disappeared and there was no sign of Towa anywhere,

"Selrie..? What are you doing here?" Quash called out as she waved at her cousin, "Aren't you supposed to be with Colrab back at the dojo?"

"I know and I was," she replied, "But I was through patching him up soon enough and decided to come see what's going on here..."

"We're fine," she snapped, "But I really think you oughta have stayed back with him. He WAS pretty badly beat up,"

"Yeah..? And who's fault was that?" Yamoshi shot back as he dashed away from behind them and fired a string of ki blasts at Aikon's face

"I know! Don't you think I feel sorry for hurting my-" she stopped herself midsentence, then rolled her eyes, "Whatever, let's just take care of this mess Towa left us,"

'Does Quash secretly have a crush on Colrab..?' Yamoshi thought to himself as he exchanged confused glances with Selrie,

 **Battle BGM: "Dragon Ball Xenoverse OST – Great Ape Theme"**

"Grrraaaaa!" Aikon roared as he slammed his giant paw at the ground just inches away from Quash and Selrie's heads as they both rolled out of the way in time,

"Okay, what do we do?" Selrie called, "He'll crush us with his size like this,"

"Aim for the tail!" Master Kalabash yelled, "A Saiyan's tail is their biggest source of strength as well as their weakness,"

"Wait... you're telling us to cut it off!?" Selrie cried horrified,

"No of course not," Yamoshi clarified, "But if we hit it a few times, we may be able to get through to him and make him slightly more vulnerable to our attacks,"

And so, the four Saiyans began attacking simultaneously, aiming primarily for Aikon's giant furry dark brown tail as they dodged his gigantic hands and random jumps,

"Try to think, Aikon!" Kalabash called out as he grabbed Aikon's tail, spinning him around and tossing him to the ground below them with a hard crash, "We're not your enemies and we don't want to hurt you,"

"RoooaaaAAAARR!" he growled in response as he thrashed his legs around, trying to get back up,

"I think it's working..." Quash muttered but quickly regretted it as the Great Ape whipped his tail hard, sending Master Kalabash crashing into a mountain as the last of the old man's strength gave way and he slid down the side, out cold.

"Master!" all three of them called out as they dashed towards Kalabash' fallen form,

"Whoa watch out- ooof!" Yamoshi pushed Selrie and Quash out of the way just as Aikon swatted his massive hands and ended up grabbing the broad spiky haired teenager tightly in both hands, "Aaaaarrghhh! Dude... c'mon you're gonna crush my bones,"

"Quash, you go check on Master Kalabash," Selrie said as she turned to gaze at the Great Ape, "I'll go take care of Aikon,"

"Whoa what, are you crazy!?" the long spiky haired girl exclaimed in response as she held her hands up blocking her path, "I won't let my best friend get stomped by a crazy giant monkey,"

"That crazy giant monkey is out FRIEND!" Selrie snapped in response, "And right now he needs our help. Don't you see, he's clearly just confused and scared – that's what happens to all of us when we transform. Plus, I'm also pretty sure it all has something to do with the magic Towa did on him otherwise I doubt he'd be this violent,"

"You... have a point," Quash sighed irritably, "Damn, just be careful okay?"

"I will, I promise," she smiled back at her and flew over to Aikon's hulking form,

"C-come on buddy... it's me Yamoshi," the teenager winced in pain as his bones cracked loudly between Aikon's fingers, "We're best friends remember..? You just need to think,"

"Grrr..." Great Ape Aikon grumbled as his grip slackened slightly on his friend's body and his eyes slightly flickered to white,

"That's it Aikon... it's me," he repeated, "I know you'd never hurt any of us on purpose... you're a good guy, a good Saiyan,"

Selrie stopped in front of Aikon's face as she looked directly at him. He stopped squeezing Yamoshi altogether as he now turned his full attention to the girl floating in front of him,

"Come on Aiky, you can do it," she began as she smirked and winked at him, "And yeah, that's my new nickname for you, deal with it,"

The Great Ape grumbled in response as he released Yamoshi and turned its head away from the group, growling in annoyance at Selrie and slowly shrinking in size,

"Haha seriously? Aiky?" Yamoshi laughed loudly before instantly gripping the sides of his stomach, "Darn it don't make me laugh, it hurts..."

"What? We all have your nicknames so I'd say Aikon deserves a nickname too,"

"Yeah but we're not nicknamed AIKY!"

"Pffft yeah okay," she couldn't help but laugh along as well, "Yamoshi look! Aikon's almost back to normal,"

The said teenage Great Ape was indeed reverting back to his base form. His fur began to disappear from all over his body and the hair on the top of his head returned back to their shiny jet black color. His muscles slowly shrunk down to their usual size and his eyes turned from the glowing red color back to white before his black pupils appeared a little while later. His long ape-like face morphed back into the usual handsome face he had and his sharp teeth shrank back to their normal size as he dropped to his knees and fell face-down, now only in his grey boxers.

Yamoshi and Selrie dropped down and jogged over to him as their friend stirred to life and slowly lifted himself off the ground, rubbing his head as if he had just woken up from a deep sleep,

"Welcome back bud," Yamoshi began as he helped Aikon to his feet, "Great self control back there,"

"I'd say," Quash called out as she and Kalabash came forward, "It's a good thing you turned back to normal when you did, or else I would've cut your tail off,"

"Wait what..?" Aikon's eyes widened at the girl, "If that's a joke, I wouldn't call it funny,"

"It wasn't a joke pretty boy," she replied neutrally as she gave him an icy look,

"Right." He cleared his throat and stepped up as he bent down before Kalabash, "I'm sorry about what happened back there Master. Towa had me wrapped around her fingers and I couldn't see what was right or wrong... I feel so used and pathetic,"

Kalabash stepped forward and patted his student on the shoulder,

"It's not your fault my pupil," he began in a calm voice, "Demon magic is very powerful and almost impossible to break out of, yet you all fought against it admirably today – which is no small feat. I'm proud to call all of you my students,"

"Thank you, Master Kalabash," Aikon replied as he got back on his feet,

All five of them looked up at the darkening sky as they noticed Colrab's form heading straight towards their location as he waved down at them. He was dressed back into his Saiyan School gi with the bandages still wrapped around inside,

"Hey you guys!" he called out, "What did I miss?"

He landed hard in front of them as he slightly winced but shook it off,

"Colrab, good to see you buddy," Aikon patted his back,

"Good to see YOU," he grinned, "You were the one who went all giga-monkey on us,"

"Not gonna lie, but it was totally cool to see though," Selrie joined in while Yamoshi rubbed his sides and Quash rolled her eyes,

"But damn bro, did you really have to put the squeeze on me like that?"

"Maybe he has a fetish of squeezing things," Quash began as the rest of them laughed and Aikon glared at her in response,

"H-hey what's that supposed to mean!?" he snapped as the long spiky haired girl shrugged,

"But jokes besides," Selrie interrupted, "Any idea what might've happened to Towa?"

"She just disappeared it seems," Kalabash replied, "But I have a feeling this wasn't the last we saw of her today,"

"All the more reason for us to train more and be ready the next time she decides to mess with us," Aikon joined in, "Because I don't know about you guys but I definitely would want to get payback after how she used me today,"

"Right on," Colrab nodded,

"Okay class, it's been a long day and I guess we all deserve a break for a few days," Master Kalabash began as he rose up off the ground and boost dashed away, "See you all next week,"

"Three whole days all to ourselves," Colrab thought happily,

"I know right,"

"I don't know about you guys but I could really go for some grub right about now," Quash started, "Any of you dorks wanna join me?"

"Sure I'm in," Yamoshi grinned, "It's already dinner time as well,"

"Me too, I'm starving!" Colrab cried as his stomach growled,

"Aikon? What about you," Selrie smiled up at him, "Will you join us?"

He looked at her blankly before breaking into a small smile,

"Yeah okay, why not," he replied coolly, "But before we go, I think I'd better head home and change into some new clothes. You guys can come along, if you want to,"

"Whoa seriously..?" Quash looked at him in disbelief, "You mean we can actually come see your castle?"

Aikon simply shrugged and took off as the rest of them looked at each other and soon followed suit.

"Shouldn't we walk?" Yamoshi questioned, "What if we get caught and have to pay penalty for flying without a license?"

"We won't, trust me," Aikon replied bluntly, "The way we're going; nobody would see us,"

"So... you guys think Aikon will have a giant moat?" Colrab began as he whispered to Quash, "A big deep one filled with giant crocs,"

"Dude, we're Saiyans, a moat won't make a difference to us,"

"Yeah what are you, twelve?" Quash snapped, "And besides, any one of us can be able to beat the shit out of a damn croc with our eyes clothes,"

"..."

Selrie raced ahead of the other three continued to argue amongst themselves and caught up next to Aikon, flying beside him. He gave her a sideward glance before turning back ahead,

"So... guess it's just me and you Aiky,"

"Please don't call me that," Aikon winced, "You do realize I have a reputation as Prince of the Saiyan race right?"

Selrie smiled slightly as she looked back at him,

"Why not? It's short and cute like you and in my opinion it compliments your reputation as a sweet ruler," she replied as Aikon's eyes widened,

"What're you talking about?" he narrowed his eyes at her, "I'm definitely not short and I'm certainly not 'cute' or sweet,"

"Yeah okay you're not short, I'll give you that," she said as she glanced at him sideways, "But you're still hella cute and I haven't seen a sweeter Saiyan like you,"

"Hmph whatever," he retorted as he looked away from her but couldn't resist holding back a small smile as Selrie laughed slightly, "What is it?"

"I just can't get enough of your blunt and serious side," she nudged him and inched a little bit closer as they flew side by side, "So, are there any siblings of yours we should know of?"

"None,"

"Oh. What about the king and queen?"

"They... may be around," his voice suddenly became serious, "Okay we're here..."

All five of them slowed down before finally stopping mid air as the huge blue-brick castle came into view. It had a large moat around it filled with some steaming green fluid, two Saiyan soldier guards standing attentively at the huge entrance gates and a long black and red banner hung from the entrance displaying the Saiyan logo,

"Whoa..." Yamoshi gaped unable to form words,

"Damn so THAT'S your castle," Quash whistled,

"See? There IS a moat," Colrab pointed below, "I called it!"

"It's so beautiful," Selrie said as she looked back at Aikon, only to notice that his face had grown harder and filled with an expression of worry and concentration, "Aikon..?"

"Okay you four, now be very quiet and follow my lead," he finally spoke, "Can't let any of the elites spot you,"

"Is that bad?" Colrab questioned,

"Let's just say not all the high and mighty take it kindly to catch commoners roaming on their turf," he whispered as they slowly floated closer, "If anything bad would happen to any of you, I would never be able to forgive myself,"

"Whoa, you mean that?" Yamoshi whispered back surprised,

"That's so..." Quash began,

"Sweet of yo-" Selrie finished as Aikon's hands suddenly covered her mouth,

"Sshhh!" he whispered as they all froze up, "Someone's coming..."

They inched quietly behind the side wall leading to the back entrance as a tall Saiyan soldier marched forward and squinted into the shadows, just a few feet away from their hiding spot,

"What's the matter Leek?" another similarly dressed Saiyan called from behind him,

"Dunno Radiss," he squinted past their hiding spot before finally turning away, "I coulda swore I heard two girly voices coming from over there,"

The other Saiyan raised an eyebrow at him,

"How long has it been since you've been away from your baby girls?"

"Six years now... why?"

"Figured."

"Close one," Aikon released a breath as they all got up soon as the two disappeared,

"I don't get it," Colrab shook his head, "Dude if you're the prince, can't you just take us through the front? I doubt any of them would do anything to you,"

"Yes, but what I'm afraid of is what they'll do to you," he replied bluntly, "These brutes don't take lightly to seeing low class Saiyans and they're ordered by my father to finish off any and all trespassers, no matter what or who they're with, unless you've already been there before,"

"That makes no sense at all," Quash shot back,

"Heh, don't you think I'd know that?" he smiled slightly as they quickly ran to the side and Aikon slipped open a door, signalling them all inside, "Come on, this way,"

 _Meanwhile as they're all inside..._

"Wow," all four of them gaped as they entered Aikon's 'bedroom'.

It had a large neatly made king-sized canopy bed with black sheets in one corner with, dark blue wallpaper around the walls and a perfectly polished darkwood floor. There was a mahogany desk in the corner with books on it and spare parchment and inks, a tall bookshelf stretching across one corner, a teak-wood dresser, a small fridge in a corner, a large punching bag hanging from the ceiling in another corner and a few dumbbells lying around. There were also five to six assorted bean bags placed around a coffee table in a corner facing a large ceiling to floor flat screen television,

"Make yourselves at home," Aikon said as he headed over to his closet, pulled out one of his navy blue training suits and headed to the attached bathroom, "There are a few ice cream bars in the small fridge if you guys want something to eat in the meantime,"

"Boy, this feels great," Colrab sighed as he fell back in a large green beanbag in a corner, arching his neck back, enjoying the plush texture, "I could lie here forever,"

"How is it so cool in here?" Yamoshi dropped into a grey beanbag next to Colrab and began surfing the television for something to watch,

"It's the automatic air conditioning we have here," He replied as he disappeared with his stuff behind the bathroom door,

"Mmmm, he has every flavoured ice pop in here," Quash mumbled in between a mouthful of ice cream, "Hey Sel, want a strawberry shawty? It's your favourite,"

"No that's okay Quash, I think I'll just browse for a while," she replied as she went over to his bed and sat at the edge, feeling the springs crinkle slightly below her. Quash shrugged and grabbed a few more popsicles as she went over to Yamoshi and Colrab and handed them one each as they began watching a random cheesy romantic comedy called, 'She's Out Of My Class'.

Selrie looked down as she ran her hand across the smooth surface of his bed, smiling to herself. She looked around as to see no one was watching and picked up one of his pillows as hugged it; sniffing deeply as she felt herself sigh involuntarily,

'It smells just like him,' she thought, 'Like the ocean mixed with wintermint,'

After cuddling the pillow a few more times and fulfilling one of her fangirl desires, she replaced the pillow back carefully the way it was and turned to a small photo frame placed on his bedside table; it was a picture of a much younger Aikon standing with two other much taller Saiyans behind him; a slender woman with short jet black hair curly from the base and wavy off the top, almond shaped black eyes and a dark brown tail wrapped around her waist, and a very tall man who looked identical to Aikon but with a much paler complexion and a cross-shaped scar across his left cheek and a lighter brown tail.

"King Abbage and Queen Carro," she whispered to herself,

"The very same," a cool deep voice spoke softly as she turned around and noticed Aikon come out of the bathroom dressed in his usual navy blue sleeveless training suit and white boots but no gloves, making his way over to the bed as he took a seat next to her,

"Oh hey," she smiled and prodded his shoulder playfully, "You look great,"

Aikon simply gave himself a once-over and shrugged,

"Why aren't you over by there watching TV with the others?"

"Ehh, I don't really like that crappy chick flick they're watching," she pointed over to the three as an attractive and curvy Saiyan woman with long bouncy hair and swaying light brown tail, dressed in a tight purple bodysuit and white elite battle armour walked on screen in slow motion, catching the eyes of various other Saiyans, especially a thin weak looking low class warrior with funny hair and a gaping expression on his face as the camera slowly tilted and zoomed around the woman. Aikon couldn't help but laugh,

"Heh, yeah I kinda hate that movie as well," he nodded at her, "Not all men are like that when they see an attractive woman,"

"How right you are," she replied as her voice seemingly grew softer and she gazed up at him through her lashes, "You look like you talk from experience,"

"O-oh well... uh, it's not like that," he scratched the back of his head uneasily as his cheeks heated up a bit, "I-I mean not like I haven't SEEN any pretty girls before, which I have! B-but I just-"

"Haha its okay Aiky, I get what you mean," she laughed at him softly as she patted his shoulder and winked, "Nervous and stuttering is a cute look for you,"

Aikon's eyes widened as he fumbled to come up with a coherent reply before crossing his arms and replying with his usual "hmph".

Three sharp knocks echoed from the door as Aikon got up and opened to reveal a neatly dressed man standing with a clipboard in his hand,

"I thought I heard you back home Prince Aikon," he spoke formally as he looked behind the teenager and noticed four other adolescents lounging about inside, "I see you've brought over guests,"

"Yes Langal, these are my friends," Aikon gestured, "Go down to the kitchens and prepare dinner. It's been a long day and we'd like something to eat,"

"Very well sir," he made a bow and turned to leave, "Although, I'd advise you and your comrades to wear something a bit more... functional,"

"That will be all Langal," Aikon rolled his eyes and closed the door as the butler shrugged and left,

"Who was that?"

"Langal, my butler," Aikon replied, "I told him you guys will be stopping over for dinner,"

"We are..?" Colrab scratched his head, "I-I mean, we are, of course we are,"

"I always wanted to see what a fancy royal dinner looked and tasted like anyways," Yamoshi's eyes glittered and Aikon smiled as he recalled the first time they met, "I'm thankful that my best friend is royalty heh,"

"Can't wait," Selrie commented,

"Did someone say dinner..?" Quash looked up from the beanbag groggily as an ice cream stick dangled from her mouth, "Me wants dinner,"

"I hope you guys don't mind changing out of your clothes into these," he went over to his large wardrobe and tossed a few neatly pressed battle suits with gloves and boots at his friends, "It's tradition in the elite class that we dress up formally for dinner,"

"This material feels good," Quash grinned as she thumbed the fabric of the bodysuit, "It's a good thing battle suits only come in unisex and female so I won't look too stupid wearing this,"

"Always wanted one of these," Colrab smiled,

"Thanks Aikon, it's lovely," Selrie quickly hugged him, catching the spiky haired teen off guard and jogged over to the bathroom with Quash to change as the boys just decided to change in the bedroom,

"It's cool of you to invite us to dinner Aikon," Colrab began as he slipped on a pair of white boots and pulled at them as the adjusted to his foot, "Really it means a lot to us bruv,"

"It's the least I can do Colrab," Aikon shrugged as he slipped on his battle armour set,

"Man, I really love this material," Yamoshi commented as he slipped on his new black bodysuit shorts and practiced a few kicks on Aikon's punching bag, "Thanks for letting us have these bro, now we can eat and look in style,"

"For sure bruv," Colrab nodded as he looked himself over in the mirror, "Damn I make this look good!"

"Yeah, it definitely suits you," Aikon tightened his gloves and wiggled his fingers,

"Whoa Quash, you look good," Yamoshi mumbled as they all turned to see the girls emerge from the bathroom, all dressed up and ready;

Aikon now wore a basic white battle suit with a grey trim and mustard abdomen, matching shoulder pads on either side with a matching skirt on his hips, a dark blue full bodysuit inside with plain white gloves and boots.

Yamoshi wore single-shouldered smooth battle armour without an inner upper bodysuit, a black chest area and short skirt on his hips, white abdomen piece, skin-tight black bodysuit shorts, and plain white gloves and boots.

Colrab had a slightly different battle armour than the rest of them; with dark green straps instead of shoulder pads, a metallic dark grey color with plastic dark green edging, no skirt and upper bodysuit, dark green bodysuit pants and plain white gloves and boots.

Quash wore a single-shouldered dark red battle armour with a white abdomen and skirt that covered her front and sides, short sleeved black upper bodysuit, black briefs and plain white gloves and boots.

Selrie on the other hand had a battle suit akin to the one Aikon wore but slightly different and rather more feminine than the rest; basic white in color with a grey trim and mustard abdomen with matching shoulder pads and no skirt, no upper bodysuit, the lower part of the armour was curved upwards slightly revealing her pale stomach, dark blue briefs, a long grey cotton leg warmer on her left leg and a shorter one on her right leg, white knee-guards and plain white gloves and boots.

None of them bothered wrapping their tails around their waists as they swung behind their backs,

"How do I look?" Selrie asked as she pushed a stray bang behind her ear,

"Like a meal... I-I mean, you look great," Colrab stuttered as he awkwardly kicked the ground,

"Hey, I thought you only had unisex battle suits," Quash asked Aikon,

"I do," he snapped the wristband of his glove as he went and opened and held the door for his friends, "That suit Selrie's got belonged to my mother when she was younger. I thought it would look good on her,"

"You gave me your mother's old clothes..?" Selrie blinked, "I... thank you so much, I'm so honoured,"

"Wow, Queen Carro wore THAT?" Yamoshi gaped, "Man your mom must be pretty beautiful to rock something like that... no offense,"

"None taken, and yes she is," Aikon reassured him as they walked along the halls until they entered the large banquet dining hall,

"Took you long enough to arrive boy," a deep voice of a man spoke up and the five teenagers turned to the source. Aikon's eyes narrowed at the sight;

The man wore a regal looking full white battle suit without a skirt with and an attached red cape at the back that bore a black Saiyan symbol, a chain with a large silver pendant lined with rubies hung from his neck, a full body deep red body suit, light blue gloves and matching boots. He looked strikingly identical to Aikon with the same face, hair and eyes but a paler complexion and cross-shaped scar on his left cheek, His tail swung impatiently behind him as he sat at the head of the table,

"Hello father,"

 **End Episode (Outro Song: "Rock the Dragon")**

 _The tension at dinnertime thickens as Aikon and his new friends come face to face with King Abbage – who has a new task at hand. What scheme has Horenzo and his allies thought up for their king and prince this time around, and what part will Yamoshi, Colrab, Selrie and Quash play in all this?_

 _Find out in the upcoming episode; "Mission to Planet Plant – Dr. Raichi and Hoquso."_

 _Next time on Dragon Ball XA._


	4. Episode 4

**(Intro Song: "Cha-La Head Cha-La")**

 _Episode_ _#4:_ _"Mission to Planet Plant – Dr. Raichi and Hoquso."_

"Took you long enough to arrive boy," King Abbage spoke up as soon as the five teenagers entered the banquet hall.

"Hello father," he began as he stood his ground with narrowed eyes,

"Your Majesty…" Yamoshi, Quash, Colrab and Selrie chanted as they kneeled down in respect.

The spiky haired large man mirrored his son's steely gaze as he nodded to the other four Saiyans kneeling before him.

He opened his mouth to say something in response just as the door to the banquet swung open and a tall woman strode in as all eyes turned to her;

The woman had an hourglass figure, short jet black hair, curly from the base and wavy off the top, almond shaped black eyes and a dark brown tail that was wrapped loosely around her slender waist. She wore a regal looking full white battle suit without a skirt and an attached purple cape that bore a black Saiyan symbol printed on the back, a pinkish-red bodysuit and magenta gloves and boots. Due to her Saiyan genes, she looked no older than her early twenties.

"Welcome home sweetheart," she smiled at her son warmly and took a seat at the opposite end of the table from her husband, "I see you brought your friends over for dinner tonight…"

"Queen Carro," Yamoshi awed with wide eyes as he marvelled at the beautiful empress before him who he'd only ever seen in posters and newspapers,

"Whoa… I-I mean, your highness," Colrab joined in, "Aikon probably hasn't told you this yet, but I'M his best friend hehe…"

"What this idiot is trying so desperately to say is that we're honoured to be in your presence, your highness," Quash and Selrie spoke in unison as the latter nudged him hard,

Abbage and Aikon rolled their eyes,

"Oh come now children, there's no need for such formality," the Queen waved her hand as she gestured towards them, "Now come, take a seat so we can all begin dinner,"

After a while, all five teenagers were seated at the massive table as the waiters slowly came in one by one with trolleys and placed platters of food before them – consisting of various roast meat dishes, salads, soups and broth with different varieties of bread.

Aikon sat somewhere in the middle of the table avoiding possible contact with his cynical doppelganger of a father and focused on his helping of roast turkey,

Selrie seated on Aikon's left side enjoying some roast turkey as well with potato salad while Yamoshi had sat himself down in a seat on Aikon's right side, munching some chicken drumsticks and complimenting Carro every now and then for the delicious dinner.

Colrab seated himself opposite Selrie, sneaking glances at her while sipping stew and toasted bread while Quash sat next to him, whispering every now and then, eating some pot roast;

"So…" she winked at him jokingly as she poked him with a half-chewed butter croissant, "You still hurt in that shoulder of yours?"

"Huh..? Oh umm, no not really," he grinned as he rubbed his bandaged shoulder and his eyes drifted back to the girl sitting opposite him, "I mean… it's still kinda sore from before but I'm much better now, thanks to Selrie,"

"Oh… right," her smile slightly dropped, "Sorry for going all mind controlled on you all back there,"

"Hey it's okay, nothing too serious," he nudged her playfully, "If it were me in your place, I'd probably be even crazier than you were,"

"'Crazier'?"

"Well sure," he changed the topic as he nodded towards Yamoshi, "Yo Yam, how's your ribs? I heard Aikon gave you a nice squeeze back there-"

"They still hurt a bit when I breathe too deeply," he replied, "But its fine. I'll heal up in no time and get back at Aikon for this," he finished as he punched Aikon lightly on the shoulder and the three boys laughed,

Meanwhile, Abbage's attention turned from his smirking son to the laughing young girl sitting close to him as they talked about the rest of their adventures from the day. He couldn't help but wonder…

"Hey girl, that battle suit you got there," he started as he gestured towards her with his fork, "It looks remarkably similar to the one Carro wore in her teen years as an elite warrior of the Saiyan army… how'd you get it?"

"O-oh yes, I believe it's the very same suit," she smiled back innocently, "Aikon was kind enough to let me wear it since my gi was basically tattered after the battles we fought today,"

"It's the least I could do after what I put you guys through-" the spiky haired boy shrugged,

"Really now..? And what might that be boy?" Abbage interrupted as he narrowed his eyes curiously at his young son who visibly slightly flinched,

"I was mind controlled by some Demon witch and forced into my Great Ape form…"

"B-but it was nothing serious though..!" Yamoshi butt in quickly, "Aikon had great control over himself so he was back to normal in no time,"

"Mind controlled..? Ha! And by a mere Demon woman no less," Abbage guffawed, "You always WERE weak and easy to manipulate,"

The young spiky haired Saiyan clenched his jaw as he balled his fist and looked away,

Everyone sat in awkward silent for a while without saying anything

Selrie tried placing her hand over Aikon's, but he pushed it away immediately as soon as their skins touched and got up from his seat,"

"I've had enough dinner for one night," he mumbled coldly as he turned to leave,

"Aikon wait, your father didn't mean it that way. Isn't that right ABBAGE..?" Carro glared at her husband who rolled his eyes,

"Hmph…" he mumbled in response, "Sit back down in your seat boy, I have something that may interest you,"

"Oh, _do_ you now?" Aikon retorted, "Because last I remember, you specifically beat the fact in me that I'm a worthless and weak Saiyan who can't even handle anything nearly important,"

"Abbage…!" Carro gasped as she glared daggers at the king,

"Aikon, that isn't true," Selrie said softly as she tried looking up into his cold pearl black eyes that refused to meet hers,

"Oooh family drama mixed with a bit of Selrie X Aikon," Quash chuckled softly as she munched on her food and nudged Colrab, "I bet you ten zeni Aiky here bursts into tears at any moment…"

"Quash this isn't funny!" the messy black haired half-Saiyan hissed at her,

"Well, I wasn't wrong," Abbage crossed his arms as he continued, "You were always weaker than the other children as an infant, moreover always weak hearted and soft – so unlike a Saiyan warrior should be. If your mother hadn't begged me to let you stay here with us, I would've sent you off to another distant planet in a heartbeat and never regretted it once. That's why I sent you off to train with Kalabash instead of training you here with the other elites… I didn't want to embarrass myself,"

"You almost done..?" Aikon seethed as his power level began to rise slowly, "Because I sure as hell am,"

"You better dial down that sass at me boy!" he growled back, "Besides, I don't want to make you look like more of a fool in front of your friends anyway. I've been keeping check of your progress these past few days and after some thought, I believe it's time you get your training underway as a true elite and the next likely heir,"

"Then what's the meaning of all this?" Carro spoke up in defence of her son, "You better get straight to the point because I'VE had it myself with you embarrassing our son like this,"

"Yeah, and thanks but no thanks," Aikon bit back as he looked at his friends, "Training with Master Kalabash was the best thing that ever happened to me and I won't give that up and leave my new friends,"

"Awww Aikon…" Selrie cooed as she genuinely smiled at him, 'He's actually glad and thankful we met…'

"Ah it's all cool bro, we're here for you too," Colrab chimed in,

"Hear hear!" Yamoshi joined,

"Well, you're not ALL that bad yourself," Quash shrugged as Aikon rolled his eyes and they both shared a small laugh,

"As I was saying," he glared at everyone to shut up before he spoke again, "I've been talking to the Council in charge of the news and one of our trusted Saiyans, Lieutenant Karifuwara tells me that your friend's power levels are quite impressive too actually. So much so that the feats you pull are quite remarkable to say the least – no match against our troops though but still remarkable enough to join our ranks…"

Aikon simply crossed his arms as everyone grew silent once more,

"I know you five are still weak as hell and probably weaker than the weakest Saiyan on our force," Abbage continued, "But considering you take up my offer, you'll be able to use your Saiyan potential to its maximum limits and learn from multiple new instructors simultaneously at once. There's only so much old Kalabash will be able to teach,"

"Seems reasonable enough," Selrie shrugged, "If anything, we'll all still learn something new out of this experience, not to mention grow stronger than we ever were before,"

"Becoming an elite was always my dream," Yamoshi exchanged dreamy glances with Quash and Colrab, "Count me in!"

"Hell yes, I wanna see how many other powerful Saiyans are there up in the elite class as well," Quash pumped her fist,

"Hmph, whatever…" Aikon replied as he folded his hands, "If it means I'll be strong enough to beat you myself one day, I'm in as well,"

"I'll call the Lieutenant in charge and tell him to set you five up," Abbage snapped his fingers as a servant came forth and presented him with a small projector,

The king turned it on as a man's face popped up on screen;

He had thick black brows, long spiky black hair with a widow's peak and tied from the base, a square face with a long nose that curved downwards and a long mouth,

"My liege," the man's hologram spoke in a raspy voice,

"Lieutenant Kosho," Abbage barked, "Banquet hall, front and centre!"

The hologram died and a few minutes later, the grand door swung open and the Saiyan marched in;

He was dressed in a black battle suit with a dark brown chest piece, shoulder pads and skirt that covered his front as well, white edging, a light blue cape held up from the shoulders with gold clips, matching black and brown gloves and boots. He also wore black briefs underneath and had a light brown tail wrapped around his waist. He was relatively short as well – no more than a few inches taller than Aikon himself, which was close around 5'4.

"You called, my king?" the man made a curt bow as he stood at attention in front of Abbage; his eyes quickly scanning the room,

'The brat brought along his entire posse,' he thought, 'Looks our little project will get underway sooner than we anticipated,'

"I need you to take these five to the Elite Academy sector as soon as possible," he began, "Get them debriefed about everything they need to know about being an elite warrior and get their training started,"

"Father, you need to think about this for a second," Aikon interrupted, "They all have their own homes to go to and their parents are probably worried for them this late at night,"

"At least let us tell our parents and Master Kalabash what's going on before we leave..." Selrie added,

"With all due respect my king," Kosho began as his eyes wandered towards Aikon and his friends, "I don't think these children will be able to keep up in our training here at the Elite Department,"

"Excuse you," Carro spoke up as she looked over the man with narrowed eyes, "These _children_ right here are more than capable of handling their own and they've already accomplished feats beyond anyone of their age,"

"You may be right my queen, but if you yourself recall, our training is rigorous and requires only the best who can keep up with the rest of the force; physically and mentally," Kosho replied coolly, "These five are far more ahead of their own age sure, but-"

"Are you going to just stand there picking at our faults or we seriously gonna do this?" Aikon interrupted, "You don't want to disobey a direct order from the king, now would you?"

Kosho's eyes widened at the prince's sudden outburst as he glanced at Abbage for reassurance who glared at him in response,

"Well..? Are you?"

"Tch, guess we have no choice," Kosho sighed, "Alright, I'll train you. But first, I'll have to see how strong each of you really are… if either one of you loses, you'll be going straight home understand?"

"Sounds like a plan," Aikon smirked as he crossed his arms, "Let's get it over with…"

With that, they headed out towards the training rooms,

 _Meanwhile at the Elite Academy sector of the castle.._

"Excellent work, Kosho," Horenzo smirked as he sat behind his desk with his arms folded behind him, talking into his red scouter, "Now that we have all five of them together at once, we'll have no problem extracting a DNA sample from each of them for Operation Absalon,"

"I'm taking them over to the training rooms right now as we speak to see if they're up for the training we will dish out on them," Kosho replied, "Make sure all our machines are ready for their physical examination when the time comes,"

"I've already sent Kyabetsu to take care of that for us. You just do your part, the rest is all under control,"

"Who do we pick as their sixth partner?" Kosho spoke back, "Every team must consist of even number of candidates for effectivity in battle, and considering from their current power levels and Kalabash' teachings in battle and combat, I won't be surprised if they all pass my initiation test,"

"Right… I almost forgot about that bit," Horenzo ran an index finger and thumb over his long ear-to-ear moustache, "I'll get a sixth partner ready for them by the time you get here,"

With that he ended the call, pulled off his scouter and tossed it on the desk as he began scanning the files in his computer for an idle candidate suitable to join them,

He kept skimming through the list but found no warrior who was currently free to join up their team. If they could've joined up right after Jinjar's death, they would have had an opening to fit all five of them in perfectly, but that brief opening in the Force which was shortly evened out by a subject from the Absalonian Archive so that idea was pretty much a bust in the end.

"The Absalonian Archive…" he mumbled as he repeated the words loudly, "I could check that place once again and see if there are any ready subjects for us this time, why didn't I think of that before!" he snapped his fingers as he browsed through the various folders before clicking the desired one he was looking so desperately for.

His eyes widened as he came upon the profile of a test subject that appeared to be almost ready,"

 **Name: Satsuma  
Race: Hybrid Saiyan-Draconic  
Age: 14  
Sex: Female  
Genetic Father: ?  
Genetic Mother: ?  
S-Cell Blood Type: AB+  
Estimated Power Level: 5,100  
Current Health Status: Healthy and Fertile  
Vitals: Normal  
Blood Pressure: Normal  
Heartbeat Rate: Normal  
Current Restoration Status – 95%  
Complete Restoration in: 00:00:47:53**

"This one looks like it needs only around forty eight minutes left to complete," he scanned through her details once more, "She will make the perfect teammate for those brats – and she's around the same age as them as well no less,"

He arrived at the Absalonian Archive at the basement floor within a few minutes and entered Dr. Hoquso's laboratory where all their test subjects remained,

Dr. Hoquso was a glassy red eyed, short and hunched green skinned, and light blue haired half Tuffle-Glyxian genius scientist who was an engineer of the Saiyan Army and also secretly working on Operation Absalon alongside in the Council's roots. He was the one who had also secretly rescued Abbage's twin brother and Aikon's mysterious uncle; Erion from his death while he was left to die in ditch by the hands of Abbage when they were both young kids, healed him up and nursed him secretly to adulthood.

Erion's new DNA programming and remapping had now gifted him immense strength and power beyond compare and soon with the help of the Demon Realm, they were looking to brainwash the remaining loyal Saiyans on the force and move forward to overthrow Abbage's kingdom and establish Erion as the new ruler for what they will now call; Planet Absalon.

With this idea of restoring someone from near-death; he also decided towards working to save other dying, unborn, forgotten, misshapen and imperfect children which later became the Absalonian test subjects and who would later build the foundation of new Absalon with a much more powerful, flawless and overall more superior race of Saiyans than ever before!

Moreover, Hoquso was also the genius who was responsible for creating the Saibamen; a dumb and weak race of expendable genetically engineered plant-like organisms that were used in training by the Saiyans,

The Captain of the Saiyan army now made his way in and walked amongst the several tall glass tubes containing naked and sleeping humanoid beings suspended in clear liquid on either side of the wall as he was soon greeted by the genius doctor himself in a warm handshake,

"Captain Horenzo," he spoke in his rather inhumane hissing voice as he smiled with a mouthful of sharp teeth, "Fancy seeing you here in the lab this late in the night,"

"Save your breath doctor," the captain brushed him off as he looked around at the large glass tubes, "We're expecting Prince Aikon and those low-class friends of his in a few hours' time. They're more than likely going to enlist in the elite programme and we'll need a sixth member for their team,"

"As per the rules of the Council, I see…" he stroked his long warty chin, "I suppose you're here for the girl then, follow me this way if you will,"

He marched to a secluded section of the laboratory beckoning Horenzo to follow him as they came upon a relatively smaller glass tube standing idly all by itself in a corner, attached to a few smaller machines. An hourglass framed, sleeping girl floated naked in clear light blue water in front of them;

She had beautiful features, long flowing deep blue hair that reached way past her waist and with the body of a healthy young woman. She looked innocent and childlike as she floated peacefully,

"She's beautiful," Horenzo commented as he nodded towards the doctor, not taking his cold eyes off of her, "How long until she's fully restored?"

The doctor tapped a few keys on the attached keypad and turned to look at the captain,

"Should be any minute now sir," he replied, "She'll be fully programmed to act like any other deranged hormonal Saiyan teenage girl, or would you prefer her to be a bit more bubbly and friendly just so she has no trouble getting acquainted with the prince and his allies?"

"I don't care do whatever the hell you want!" Horenzo replied impatiently, "However… what's the deal with these Draconic Saiyans anyways? I hear they're full of untapped mysterious potential. This girl as well as that other boy who's a friend of the prince… Colrab is it, is a Draconic Saiyan as well from what I hear. Not that it means anything much for us. They are still children after all,"

Hoquso's red eyes scanned the glass tube and he gazed at the girl and began his monologue,

"I myself don't know much except from what I know, but around fourteen years ago, two of our soldiers by the name of Tamanegi and Tabega found two babies; a boy and a girl for sale at a snack stall in a market on Planet Eupra. What caught them off guard was that they possessed Saiyan tails and how they looked different from the Euprian race's obvious striking yellow, green, blue or purple skin and long ears. They asked more about those children and were told by the vendor that he had found them both crying in two crashed space pods a day ago. Upon investigating the crash site, they confirmed that those pods indeed belonged to Saiyans – but it wasn't found out who the Saiyans were. Some Euprians who were witnesses at that time did say that they had seen two men with tails fighting some colourful freaks in battle suits who they said appeared to be the Frost Demon Lord Chilled's men, but the rest is unclear whether they won or lost since there was no sign of either of them later on and no bodies either,"

"If so, why didn't Chilled have the children killed off?" Horenzo enquired,

"No idea. Maybe they didn't care, or didn't feel the need to check their space pods for possible survivors and just left. It's a wonder why the babies didn't cry earlier though,"

"Two Saiyan babies found in Saiyan pods… that is indeed very strange,"

"As their duty to the Saiyan race, Tamanegi and Tabega took the two babies from the Euprian's hands and brought them back to Sadal. When we checked their vitals after they arrived, we were shocked and yet mystified by their fluctuating power levels. Upon testing their DNA, we found out that both the boy and girl carried Saiyan and Dragon blood in their veins, although it wasn't the same which meant they weren't related to each other.

"Tabega took on the guardianship of the boy as he always wanted a son, naming him Colrab while I decided to take the girl – naming her Satsuma and caring for her like any other of my test subjects. I suggested Tabega to make his new adoptive son into an Absalonian test subject for later use too, but he was outraged and refused the offer saying that he'll bring him up on his own and raise him as his own child while also familiarizing himself with his unknown Draconic heritage – as much as his memory of Dragon lore served him. So unlike the Saiyan way… but I guess it was to be expected since Tabega was always fascinated by the mythical Dragons so having a son who shared Dragon DNA was a sort of dream come true for him,"

"How utterly stupid," Horenzo grumbled, "He sounds almost as delusional as that idiot Kalabash, and look how that turned out for him,"

A loud beep echoed through the room and the two men turned their attention to the glass tube before them,

"Congratulations Captain, her restoration is complete," Hoquso chuckled as he rubbed his hands together, "I'll get her ready in the meantime as the other children go through their admission trials at the Academy,"

"Great. Now then, if you'd excuse me, I have other, more important matters to attend to," Horenzo barked as he turned around and headed out into the cold hallway,

'I wonder if my young friend Raichi is making good use of that blueprint of the formula I gave him…'

 _On another planet far, far away…_

A young man with sharp browless brown eyes, a crop of white messy hair, a thin white moustache and a widow's peak turned some cogs on a large machine with pipes in a dark and dingy room as steam hissed out. He was dressed in dark blue pants and black boots over a long lab coat that reached past his knees.

He then sprinted across the room and placed a small vial next to a spiralling triangular large test tube filled with thick black and red liquid as it trickled down into it,

"Behold, I have done it!" he announced proudly toward no one in particular as he placed the stopper on the vial, "With the help of that formula Hoquso gave me, mixed with some of my state of the art Tuffle alchemic engineering, I will now finally be able to create the first ever Super Tuffle warrior!"

He juggled the dark potion around in his hand as he marvelled at his creation in awe. A young woman with long coppery hair and glowing orange eyes walked in through the laboratory doors and made her way towards him. She wore a similar lab coat like the young man but she wore pink coloured tights underneath, topped with brown boots.

"Raichi..? What in the world are you doing down here at this hour?" she spoke in an urgent voice as he eyes travelled to the small vial in his hand, "And what's that supposed to be in your hand?"

"The future," he began, "With this formula, we will be unstoppable! Even those savage monkeys would cower beneath us once we take this,"

The woman rose an eyebrow sceptically at the man as she looked from the dark liquid to the young man's face and back,

"I'm not so sure about that Raichi," she shook her head as she looked at the man's deranged expression worriedly, "I know you may be one of the smartest and most brilliant scientist on Planet Plant, but this… this seems way too much to process even by YOUR standards,"

Raichi took hold of the young woman's shoulders and gave her a good shake,

"Come on Gava, don't be like that," Raichi bore his eyes hopefully into her widened ones, "You've always stood by me before as well, so please don't leave me in the darkness now when I'm certain we're about to achieve the biggest breakthrough that we've so desperately needed for so long,"

"Raichi… I-I just-"

He placed a finger on her lips to make her shut up as he shook his head firmly in response,

"Trust in me, alright?"

She arched her eyebrow and pushed his finger away from her mouth, sighing,

"Sure, alright…"

Raichi took her hand as he guided her towards his work table, telling her all about his friend Hoquso's Absalonian formula and how he then managed to come up with the ingenious plan of infusing it with Tuffle alchemy to create something entirely new that would help the Tuffles gain the power and strength to tower above every other life form in the universe,

"We may have the smartest brains in the universe, but when it comes to brawn..." he continued, "The lesser races always leave us in the dust,"

"That's true," she sighed sadly, "We're so weak that anyone with a power level higher than five hundred or so would be able to kill us with a single punch,"

"And that's exactly why I made this… for us," he handed her the vial as she turned it in her hands, the black-red liquid swimming inside, "Anyone who takes the formula will gain unimaginable power – and the effects are permanent,"

"No more need for guns, no more heavy weaponry against hostile forces," she began, "We'll be able to save up so much on making dumb weapons and battle equipment, and can instead use it to make Planet Plant a much better place,"

"Yes, yes…"

"But who do we test this on?" she asked him, "And what if there are side effects too?"

"Don't worry Gava, I already have a test subject all ready for us,"

He took her hand and walked over to a large pressure-door in a corner, typing in a number combination on the keypad, and making it slide open with a hiss to reveal a room inside;

A large healing tank sat at the far end, filled with transparent green fluid. A huge and extremely muscular naked man sat inside the tank asleep with an oxygen mask on. He had very long jet black hair that floated all around him with a long bang falling on the right side of his forehead, covering the corner of his right eyes and a long thick scar that trailed the left side of his face.

The man also had a strange glowing dark purple ball with three red stars stuck in the centre of his chest; the veins around that area pulsing red,

Gava's jaw dropped when she noticed a long dark brown tail swimming behind him as she looked worriedly at Raichi, who appeared to be oddly calm.

"Raichi is that-"

"A Saiyan, yes," he began as he placed a hand on the glass, peering in "Poor monkey… crash landed here just a few months ago all bruised and beat up, so we took him in and he's been healing here ever since,"

"I don't know about this," she cried hesitantly, "Maybe testing a Saiyan might not be such a good idea… and what's that purple orb on his chest,"

"I… have no idea, but I don't think it's anything dangerous," he began typing on the control panel of the tank, "And besides it's not like anyone misses him anyways. Those monkeys probably don't care or think he died or something and didn't bother to come look for him,"

"What I something goes wrong and the Saiyan becomes… say, unimaginably stronger? So much stronger that he goes rogue?"

"Don't worry about that," he waved his hand calmly, "He'll be completely strapped in the whole time so he won't be able to move – our machine can manage to easily contain even a heavily sedated great ape without trouble,"

The two young Tuffles grudgingly clothed the massive sleeping Saiyan in dark blue pants with a red belt around the waist, a red skin-tight undershirt, metal wristbands and boots. Then they laid him on a large metal contraption, securing his chest with a twisted long metal bar that curved over his shoulders, and a metal mask placed over his face, completely covering his ears, lower face and throat.

"Phew… he's a heavy one," Gava wiped her forehead as she climbed down from the machine, looking up at Raichi, "Now what do we do?"

The young man inserted the vial upside-down inside a small opening in the side of the machine as he jumped off and joined his partner behind the control panel,

"Now the magic happens…" he pressed a few keys and the machine whirred to life. Just as they were about to press the start button, a loud groan echoed through the room as they both looked up to find the Saiyan stirring to life,

"Ugghhh where the hell am I..?" he groaned as his sharp black eyes adjusted to the dim lighting of the room, "W-what's this..?! Hey, what the..?! Get this stupid thing off me!"

"Now Saiyan… I need you to relax," Raichi called out smoothly, "I have no idea how you woke up, but know this that you're about to undergo a very special revolutionary experiment that is more than likely to change you in more ways than one. If all goes well, you may even come out as our very own Saiyan servant to us,"

"Consider yourself to be the very first to experience such a marvel, monkey…"

"I don't know who the hell you two are, but you'd better get me out of here or else I'll blow your whole lab to smithereens!" he roared, "You cannot cage the great Cumber for long!"

"Well then Cumber, I assure you that no matter how hard you try, you simply cannot get out of this machine on your own. There's no use crying about it like a wuss,"

"Why you little…!" Cumber yelled back as he tried twisting and turning but to no avail, "I'm gonna paint the walls in both your blood for this!"

Raichi and Gava each rolled their eyes as they hit the start button and a series of pipes filled with the same blackish-red liquid hooked onto Cumber's metallic wristbands and boots. The Saiyan growled in pain as the veins on his arms and face popped out and he squeezed his eyes shut,

"Vitals are normal, blood pressure's normal…" Gava mumbled, "I think this might actually work!"

"Of course it will… I am a genius after all hehe…" Raichi chuckled to himself as the machine beeped loudly and both Tuffles' eyes widened,

"Aaaaaarrrgggghhh!" Cumber yelled out in pain as a portion of his shirt blew off, displaying the glowing dark purple ball and his eyes flew open – his pupils now red and black…

"Uh oh,"

"What do you mean by 'uh oh'?!" Gava shrieked as she looked from the Saiyan to the machine, to Raichi and back, "What's going on Raichi!?"

"I-it appears that whatever's causing this is because of that orb on his chest…" he mumbled worriedly, "As for the serum… that worked well too,"

"W-what..!?"

"Grrraaaaagghh!"

The muscles in Cumber's arms bulged as his sleeves blew off, exposing his muscular, veiny arms. With one burst of his now red and black aura, he jumped off the machine, standing back up to glare at the two Tuffles with eyes filled with rage,

"Impossible!"

"Oh no…"

An unearthly black aura surrounded him as he slowly and menacingly walked over to the two,

"Hehehehe…" he chuckled sinisterly as he looked down at the two Tuffles from his massive height; locking his eyes with Gava's terrified ones as he cracked his knuckles, "You puny weaklings just made a BIG mistake…"

And with that he lunged forward towards them; Gava's screams echoing through the night.

 **End Episode (Outro Song: "Rock the Dragon")**

 _Aikon and his friend's initiation test with Kosho is underway… how will they react when they are introduced to their new sixth partner Satsuma..? Meanwhile, something dark and immensely powerful is going down on Planet Plant as the Saiyans are to be dispatched to take care of it. Are Aikon and his friends a match for Lieutenant Kosho?_

 _Find out in the upcoming episode; "Welcome, the New Elite Recruits – Planet Plant in Trouble."_

 _Next time on Dragon Ball XA._


	5. Episode 5

**(Intro Song: "Cha-La Head Cha-La")**

 _Episode #5:_ _"Welcome, the New Elite Recruits – Planet Plant in Trouble."_

After saying all their goodbyes, Selrie, Quash, Colrab and Yamoshi alongside Aikon joined Kosho as all seven of them were now flying at high speeds, heading towards the prestigious Elite Academy – a large building located in the midst of the elite sector; a posh district vastly different from the rest of the main city, exclusive to the elite class of Saiyans; where they lived, studied, grew up and pretty much spent the rest of their lives at.

Aikon's castle was situated at the edge of this very elite sector, overlooking the rest of the main city,

"Come on, pick up the pace," the lieutenant barked as he pointed towards a large building complex looming in the distance, "I swear, my weakling wife could fly faster than you lot,"

They all looked behind themselves at the main city one last time before looking to each other, realizing the aftermath that they won't be visiting the outside world for quite some time now, not until they are certified elite rank Saiyans or of they die trying.

This was definitely a big step up for each of them, as their lives were most definitely going to change forever,

"Guess we won't be coming back for a while now, huh?" Colrab mumbled silently as he looked back towards the fading city lights, "I'll sure miss waking up every morning at the crack of dawn to go train with Master Kalabash,"

'After this, I'll no longer be considered a low class scum,' Yamoshi thought to himself as he could picture it all, 'All those years groveling the streets for zeni, scavenging the garbage for leftovers, getting beat up and bullied by passerby street hawkers and shopkeepers… people will ACTUALLY start looking up at me with genuine respect…'

"Colrab, don't be like that, this is probably… no, this is DEFINITELY the biggest opportunity for all of us to shine and rise up for what we're meant to be. You should be excited, and I'm sure even Master Kalabash would be pleased," Selrie continued as she flew closer to him, nudging his hand playfully – making the messy haired hybrid Saiyan grin subconsciously,

"Oh really now..? Think again," Aikon interrupted coldly as he flew up next to them, looking towards them icily and making both Colrab and Selrie flinch slightly, as he continued in a low voice, "If either one of us just so happens to fail this little initiation test Kosho has in store for us, we're all dead meat anyways, or even if we manage to pass, there's a high chance we'll still be split up based on our power differences and fighting styles. Either way, there's no use being all cheery about it and instead think about the aftermath,"

"D-don't be like that, Aikon..!" Selrie stuttered as she tried countering his statements, even though she knew he had a point, "Regardless, I still have a positive gut feeling that we'll all pass and make it through in the end. Together,"

"Hmph, whatever you say. Even if we do end up splitting up, which we will… keeping false hope is the last thing crossing my mind. All I care about now is getting this stupid test over with as soon as possible," Aikon huffed as he zoomed ahead; ignoring the constant flood of emotions clouding his thoughts and the baffled look Selrie gave him.

He might've possibly hurt her with his words, but he believed it was for her own good in the long run.

'Aikon… surely, you don't mean that, do you..?' she thought to herself, looking longingly at him,

'Push her away. She deserves better,' he kept telling himself,

"Yeah man, whatever… no need to get all negative and angsty about it," Colrab called out, but to no avail,

But in all honesty, Aikon was relieved to get away from his dreaded father's clutches for a few years, he would be lying if he said he wouldn't miss his dear mother, or even his new friends if they didn't happen to survive Kosho's test – especially Selrie,

'Selrie…'

He shook his head to clear his thoughts off of the girl.

The said Saiyan girl on the other hand had her mind preoccupied elsewhere as she flew close to her childhood best friend; not even noticing when their hands came closer and became intertwined with one another, to Colrab's joy – however she just gave his hand a light squeeze and pulled away after a few seconds,

"Honestly, I don't know what you babies are moping about," Quash did a roll in the air as she flew in front of them, winking coyly at the brooding Aikon, as he grumbled and focused ahead, "My cousin's has a valid point; to be training with the most powerful and influential Saiyans on the planet IS indeed a once in a lifetime opportunity. It's making me so hyped just thinking about it! You all better believe I'll be flying through those ranks,"

"Well well well, glad to see at least one of you seems excited," Kosho chuckled to himself and leered at Quash intensely, making Quash look away uneasily, "Need I remind you kids, that if you fail to deliver the results I require, I will personally make it my solemn duty to squash you like the insignificant low class bugs you all are, and then send you back to your own shanty homes in a matchbox – even you, _Prince_ Aikon, won't be accepted back into your lavish castle if you happen to humiliate your father,"

Yamoshi flew closer to Quash as he took her hand in his, giving it a light squeeze,

"Damn prick… we'll beat his ass later, I promise," Yamoshi mumbled between gritted his teeth as Quash silently giggled,

"Don't get too cocky, Kosho," Aikon countered, "My father may think I'm a weakling, but you'll find out soon enough what I'm REALLY capable of! As for the rest of my friends, if you so much as think that either one is weak then you're in for a surprise,"

At this, Kosho simply laughed in amusement.

"Hahaha HAHAHAHA! Well, I guess we'll have to see about that. We're here,"

After a few more minutes, the Saiyans slowed down as they neared the large Saiyan Academy building, dropping down at a landing pad,

"Whoa!" Yamoshi and Colrab both jaw-dropped at once as they looked around at the huge building complex before themselves,

"Hubba hubba," Quash gulped as she looked around at the beautiful campus before them, ogling the various other young Saiyan recruits walking around,

"This looks to be the start of something beautiful," Selrie thought aloud as a few handsome teenage boys around their age smiled and winked at her,

"Now THIS I can get used to..!" Colrab exchanged glances with a pretty girl walking right past him and Yamoshi as she glanced their way, "Yamoshi, my man… I think that cute girl's checking us out,"

Colrab whispered to his friend as they watched her walk past,

"I saw, I saw!"

"Hey! If you guys are done drooling over the other students, can we get a move on?" Aikon's impatient voice broke them out of their daze as he pushed past Colrab and walked over to Kosho waiting impatiently for them at the entrance of the main building with his arms crossed,

"R-right..!"

As they walked in and made their way towards the front desk, Kosho raised his hand abruptly, stopping them,

"You five wait there while I get you all registered,"

With that, he marched to the large desk and began talking to the receptionist sitting behind it as she typed frantically on her screen and pulled out a series of dossiers as she scrolled through,

"Alright lieutenant, you're all set," she chimed after a few minutes as she handed him a keycard, "You're free to take them to one of the training rooms down that aisle,"

"About damn time woman," he snapped as he beckoned the young teens to follow him,

Before long, they scaled the halls and reached a room labeled 'TR-0102',

"They have over a hundred training rooms here..?" Colrab blinked,

"More than a thousand to be exact, kid..." Kosho replied bluntly, swiping the keycard on the door pad as the pressure door slid aside with a hiss;

"After you lot,"

Before them was a large white circular empty room with a control panel and glass screen at one side leading to a small safety room attached in the back.

"This place is even larger than the training room back in my castle," Aikon said aloud as he heard Kosho snort,

"Heh you don't say," Kosho mocked, making Aikon glare back, "Anyways, let's get started. As much as it pains me to do so, I will personally spar each one of you in a one on one sparring match and see where each one of you weaklings stand. Your task here is simple; survive thirty seconds against me in heated mortal combat, and I'll be convinced you've got what it takes to study here with the elites. If you disappoint me in any way possible or end up wasting my time, and I'll end it quickly by killing you with these bare hands or round up my squadron and throw you out on the streets. Any questions..?"

"Umm, what if we get knocked out during the battle or get seriously injured and won't be able to fight any more?" Selrie questioned, raising her hand,

"A very good question sweetheart…" he smirked as he shot a ki blast over to the control panel in the corner,

"Gii giii!" a small green Saibaman jumped out from a small slot in the wall and twitched in front of the teenagers as all five of them defensively jumped into their battle stances,

"Grrraaaa!" Kosho yelled as he dashed over to the small creature at a speed too fast for any of them to notice, driving his gloved fist deep inside the Saibaman's chest as it came out the other end in a purple goop. After that, he lifted his arm upwards and slammed his fist downwards – still deep inside the creature's chest, hard on the floor, making the whole room shake and splattering the Saibaman into a million pieces of green and purple matter as he stood back up,

The three boys and Quash stared wide eyed and gaping as Selrie gulped fearfully,

"Any more questions..? Good," Kosho began as he flicked away the poor Saibaman's remains from his bloodied hand, "We do not waste our time on a bunch of half-assed weaklings over here. We breed soldiers, not pussies! Any more questions?"

When he got no answer he nodded and turned around as he kicked the remains of the Saibaman aside,

"Good, then let's begin…" he smirked as he proceeded to point a bloodied finger in Aikon's direction, smirking, "The weakling Saiyan prince will be my first victim to start off,"

Aikon narrowed his eyes as he stepped up past the other four gaping teenagers;

"Bring it!" he replied coldly, assuming his battle stance as the other four teenagers stepped back to give them room, sliding inside the safety room behind,

 **Battle BGM: "Loyal Lunacy – Lt. Kosho's Theme by CPS2 Originals"**

Aikon and Kosho sized each other up – the younger Saiyan Prince observing the man's stance as the lieutenant stood there with his legs apart and fists clenched at his sides,  
 **(A.N Android 13's stance from Xenoverse 2)**

"Analyzing your opponent's every move eh? Heh, guess that old coot wasn't as useless of a teacher to you after all," he smirked as he noticed the young Saiyan tense up at the words,

"Master Kalabash is one of the greatest warriors that ever lived," Aikon replied, "And I'll give you a taste of just how well he trained us over these years,"

With that he started charging up his ki, making the room shake;

"Haaaaaaaaaa…"

The lieutenant's eyes widened as he could almost feel the air in the room get thicker with how much power the young prince was releasing,

'Impressive… and here I thought he was still probably as weak from when he was conceived,' Kosho thought to himself, 'Guess his father really did underestimate his own son's potential,'

"Tch, Aikon's power is on a whole other level, you guys," Colrab gritted his teeth as the glass screen beneath his fingers started vibrating,

"HaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAA!" he rose up off the ground slightly as his ki reached maximum, glaring at the older man before boost-dashing towards him at top speed, causing them both to clash in a series of kicks and punches,

"Kff..!" Kosho jumped back on his feet, getting ready to strike just as Aikon's white boot hit him square in the chest and he was sent flying backwards,

"A knockback!?" the four younger Saiyans cheered,

"Haaa..! Atatatatatatata!" he dashed after the man and unleashed a light-hit combo on the man before the said man raised his hands above his head, blowing the younger Saiyan back with a well time Super Explosive Wave,

"Enough games!"

"Aaarghh..!" Aikon groaned as he was sent up into a flying tailspin by the triggered explosion, crashing into the ceiling as he dropped back down on the ground below with a hard thud, followed by debris and chips of paint, followed by a stomp from Kosho,

"Impressive display of power indeed, Aikon, but you're still a bit rusty," Kosho remarked as he smirked at him and squeezed the young Saiyan's head down more, "Nonetheless, I sense more of that hidden potential of yours buried deep within you, desperately trying to come out,. Why don't you be a good lad and set it free..? Maybe then you might be an actual challenge,"

With that he lifted his foot and kicked the boy away, making him bounce off and crash against the nearby wall,

Aikon staggered to his feet as he wiped his jaw, panting slightly,

"Huff… huff… I d-don't need to listen t-" Aikon was cut short as a large gloved fist drove through his chest, followed by a loud crack that echoed through the room, "Ugghhh...!"

"Do I look like someone who's here to play, Aikon?" Kosho continued coldly as he drove his fist even deeper into the boy's battle suit, causing more bones to crack as Aikon groaned and grabbed the man's fist, struggling, "Let me make this simple for you… you might be a prince out there, but in here at the Elite Academy, WE are your superiors… your attitude won't be tolerated here, got that?!"

With that he raised his fist and drove his knee hard inside the young teen's gut with a sickening crunch,

"Aaaaargh!" Aikon groaned painfully as the back of his battle suit armor cracked and he coughed up blood,

"Aikon, no! T-that's enough..!" Selrie yelled as she tried to jump in to help him, only to be held back by Yamoshi and Quash as they grabbed her excited light brown tail, "Tch… l-let go of me you two, what're you doing?! Aikon needs us!"

"Are you crazy?! We can't interfere in this fight and survive against… against that monster!" Quash grabbed her cousin by the waist, "As much as we want to help him, we can't… there's no telling what Kosho will do if we try to interrupt,"

"But I-"

"Selrie, please listen to us…" Yamoshi shook his head sadly as he slowly began loosening his grip on her furry tail, "We may not do much… but I have a feeling Aikon's got this in the bag, let's trust him,"

She looked over at Colrab who was more preoccupied with the fight going on, his brows furrowed, his forehead lined with beads of sweat as he gritted his teeth in frustration,

Eventually, Selrie calmed down and relaxed as she laid her head over her older cousin's shoulder, tearing up,

Quash simply stroked her spiky hair, not knowing what to say,

"I-I can't see this…" she sobbed, "J-just tell me when it's over,"

Yamoshi patted her comfortingly on the shoulder as he tried looking back at his best friend getting his gut pummeled numerous times more by the older man,

"Come on Aikon, fight back! Fight back you weakling prince of all the bloody Saiyans! Where's all that hidden power you were displaying a moment ago? I know you've got more of that in you!" he grunted as he held the boy up by his hair with one hand as he jackhammered his knee repeatedly in the young prince's stomach, causing the hole in his battle suit to enlarge more and more as his abs became more exposed and bloodied, "Not every battle will be a cookie-cutter fight! And not every fight will be a team effort! What will you do when you're up against the wall by a much stronger opponent? Huh..?! Will you just give up and let them take their way with you..!? You pathetic waste of Saiyan blood!"

After what seemed like the hundredth blow, he looked down at the young Saiyan with spite and tossed him aside as he bounced off the white floor a couple times before landing facedown, panting.

Kosho walked over to him as he kicked Aikon in the gut, rolling him to his side so that he faced upwards,

"Hff… hff…" he panted for air as he looked up at the man, coughing up blood; unable to form a single word,

"Your father was right… you really ARE a disgrace to the entire Saiyan race. You'd rather die than to use your power," he raised his hand in the boy's direction; charging a ball of ki, "And to think your bloodline is related to the great Saiyan Ramp… how shameful. I'll end your misery with this one single blast, you weakling prince…"

"Uh… n-n-n…" Aikon struggled to move as he turned his head to the side glaring at the man, trying to get up, "I… I w-won't l-lose..! N-not to y-you… n-not yet…"

"Look at yourself boy, you already have," Kosho simply replied, "It was a mistake on my part to think that you actually have what it takes to become a true Saiyan warrior. Now stay still as I make this quick and painless for your sorry ass. Then later I can finish off your friends; starting off with that cute short girl… Selrie was it? We're gonna have a lot of fun, me and her… hehe hahaha HAHA!"

"N-n-no…"

Kosho released the charged Atomic Blast as it exploded against the ground on impact with a loud bang; sending up smoke into the air,

"NOOOO!" Selrie yelled as she broke down,

"Aikoooon!" Yamoshi slammed the wall hard,

"He… h-he actually… really k-killed him…" Quash dropped to her knees in anguish,

"No you guys, look!" Colrab yelled as he pointed inside the room in the direction of the smoke,

Surely enough, when the smoke cleared, they noticed that Aikon wasn't there anymore and Kosho was standing baffled in a pile of rubble – looking around,

"Huh..? Where'd he go?" Kosho demanded, inspecting the large hole he had made in the ground, looking under the debris, "I couldn't have incinerated his corpse complete- aargh!"

"Whoa!" the four teenagers gasped as seemingly out of nowhere; Kosho received a flying kick to his face which sent him crashing into the opposite corner,

"You… will not… touch Selrie..!" Aikon growled as he rose up back to his feet, shaking with fury and wiping the blood off his mouth with the back of his hand; glaring at the man, "If you so much as even DARE to look at her… I'LL RIP YOU TO PIECES!"

Kosho's eyes lit up as he smirked and massaged his now bruised jaw, chuckling lightly,

"Hehehehe yes, YES! That's what I'm talking about!" he readied himself as well, "And don't flatter yourself boy… after I'm done with you here, I'm still going to- ughh!"

Kosho was interrupted as Aikon lunged forward once again and landed a straight uppercut under Kosho's chin, sending him upwards before dashing after him,

"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" he shot back, "Just shut up and fight me! Haaaaaaaaaa!"

"Grrraaaa!"

With that, both the Saiyans jumped at each other in a flurry of kicks and punches from either side,

The other four teenagers looked on in absolute disbelief as their beat up friend – who was just getting slaughtered a few minutes ago was now fighting toe-to-toe against the much more experienced, much more bigger and insanely powerful lieutenant of the Saiyan Army; whose power rivalled one of the most powerful Saiyans on the entire planet,

'This is insane… I don't believe it,' Colrab gritted his teeth as his eyes skimmed from Aikon to Kosho and back, 'I thought Aikon was toast, and now he's battling Kosho on equal footing..? This is the darn lieutenant of the freaking SAIYAN ARMY… one of the most ruthless fighters that ever lived, and over here, he's getting overwhelmed by a teenager. What the heck is going on..?!'

"Al-RIGHT..! Get a little taste of THAT why don'cha, you flute-snoot!" Quash cheered as she teasingly nudged Selrie, "See Sel? Your man really is a force to be reckoned with after all. Now if that isn't cute, I dunno what is!"

"S-shut up Quash!" The short spiky haired girl lightly shoved her cousin away, blushing furiously and smiling to herself subconsciously, which made Quash laugh even more,

"It's not just that," Yamoshi gulped as he pointed over to where Aikon was now mercilessly pinning Kosho against the wall with a relentless Meteor Crash; pushing him more and more into the concrete,

"What do you mean, Yamoshi?"

"Aikon might be the strongest one of us all," he continued, "But didn't you notice something back there..? Back when Kosho was toying with him, he said some things to Aikon he really shouldn't have – not just telling him he'll harm his friends, but also targeting his insecurities… that's what made Aikon snap like this,"

"So..? From how I see it, that prick is getting what he deserves," Quash started,

"Aikon's sizing up Kosho purely using his inner rage – the same thing which Kosho was trying to trigger inside him," he finished, "Aikon gets picked on by his father constantly, he might've even heard the other servants in the castle talking about it behind his back. Kosho doing the same was probably the last straw which made him completely lose it, and now, Kosho will pay for it,"

"Atatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatata!" Aikon screamed as he pushed Kosho deeper and deeper into the wall, "How DARE you..! NOBODY CALLS ME A DISGRACE! NOBODY THREATENS TO HARM MY FRIENDS! NOBODY…!"

"Uuuaaghh!" Kosho groaned as Aikon punched him across the jaw one last time with such force, knocking all the wind out of him, causing him to slide down to the ground bleeding severely, his battle suit damaged and broken from various places, "H-how… how were you hiding THIS much power...?"

"GrrraaaaaaAAAAAAAAA!" Aikon yelled as he lifted off the ground slightly, his ki exploding all around him as power began to sky rocket; making the room shake all over,

The muscles in his legs, arms and chest bulged slightly as his hair became slightly more solid, shinier and spikier than before. His tail turned into the same shiny jet black color as his hair were now and when he looked back down at the lieutenant; his pupils had now turned yellow in color with black irises in between. His body also surrounded a pale mint green aura that contrasted vastly against his battle suit,

Aikon's expression was now that of complete and pure rage, as he glared down at the man before him with the intent to kill.

Kosho visibly quivered as he shrunk back, his face devoid of the cocky smirk and the overconfidence he had displayed before,

"Guys… look!" Colrab exclaimed, "Aikon's appearance has changed!"

"Woah… what in the!?" Yamoshi looked on in amazement, "Did he just… transform..?"

'Aikon…' Selrie thought to herself as she looked on at him worriedly,

"N-no… t-this c-can't be..!" Kosho stuttered, "This power… w-what ARE you!?"

The said prince didn't reply, but simply put up his right hand forward; a small ball of glowing green ki began to form around his palm as it slowly grew larger and larger,

"Die..!" he growled, as he stared on coldly, throwing the green ki ball at the man with full force as it exploded on impact.

A blinding green light enveloped the whole room as the four teenagers shielded their eyes from the blast, slowly waiting as it disappeared before looking back,

"I don't believe it," Colrab jaw-dropped, "Aikon won… he actually won!"

"Look, over there!" Quash cried out,

And sure enough when the smoke clouds had cleared, Aikon was indeed the only one left standing, panting over a large gaping hole in the wall; his hair and muscle mass having returned to their usual state, his tail dark brown once more as his eyes were back to their previous jet black color – before he sighed and fell back panting and exhausted.

Lieutenant Kosho's beat up body lay near the hole in the wall; completely knocked out, but not dead yet.

"Aikon!" Selrie cried out as she ran over to his side, falling to her knees as she placed a hand over his chest, trying to lift him up, "Are you alright?"

The young Saiyan struggled to turn his head sideways to find his head resting in her lap as she knelt there looking down at him; his eyes immediately turning soft when they noticed Selrie's worried ones boring so close into his intensely. He noticed how beautiful they were up close,

"Selrie," he started as he tried propping himself up before falling back, "What are you… argh!"

He hissed as the pain kicked in, making him drop back and clutch his head in pain as Selrie cradled him closely,

"Hey, easy there, don't forget you're still hurt," she scolded, as she readjusted herself, making him rest his head more comfortably on her thigh, "You let out quite a lot of power back there, so you clearly must be completely exhausted by now. Rest,"

"Tch, I'm fine, really… it's just a few scratches, nothing too major," he countered as she raised her eyebrows at him questioningly and placed her small hand gently on the deep red bruise on his abs, making him wince,

"Arrghh..! C-cut that out, it stings…"

"Uh huh..? Sure, you're COMPLETELY fine!" she mocked, making him roll his eyes, "But in all honesty, Aikon… what was that power just now? It felt… different. Something primal and powerful, almost on a whole other level,"

"I… don't know myself," he replied simply as he looked at his bruised hand, balling it into a fist, "I was just, feeling really angry, and helpless, and sad at the same time. I wanted to win and make that bastard pay, and then I just… snapped,"

"You really worried me back there, y'know," she continued, "While that bastard Kosho was beating the hell out of you, I was scared that you'd-"

"What? That I'd die by Kosho's hands..?" Aikon finished her sentence as he finally sat up, looking straight at her, dead serious, "Hmph, so what if he did kill me? It's no big deal and it's not like it would make much difference to anyone anyways. You should have been more worried about your own skins because after he was done with me, he was coming for the rest of you,"

This made Selrie's face tense up as she looked away from him abruptly, making him slightly uneasy;

"What? What is it?"

"I know you think everyone hates you…" she spoke quietly, still not looking at him,

"Well yeah, it's a fact-"

"No it's not!" she snapped at him as she looked back and pushed herself away from him, "You always think the whole world is against you and because of that, you become even more distanced and insensitive and you push people away. You think I didn't notice how you ran off the other day when you came to drop me off home that night? Or the way you were avoiding all contact with me throughout dinner and the whole flight here to the Academy? I'm not stupid, Aikon… I know you have it rough at home and your father gives you hell, but not everyone's like that! So just stop this whole loner emo act and stop avoiding me!"

Aikon's eyes widened as he listened to her, noticing her eyes water slightly as she continued,

"D-do you have any idea," she sobbed, "ANY idea how worried all four of us were for you in there as we saw you get butchered mercilessly!? It absolutely broke my heart seeing you like that and thinking you wouldn't make it,"

"I might've taken a beating sure," Aikon replied coldly, "But I've dealt with far worse in the past. I'm used to it… all the pain. My body's strong,"

Selrie shook her head as she searched his face, sadly,

"You can't keep hurting like this Aikon… there's only so much a person can take before they snap. You're our friend. Even if you're royalty or even if you were just another commoner like the rest of us, we'd still care about you and we'll always be there for you no matter what,"

With that before he could come up with a counter statement, she leaned forward and planted her lips on his forehead, lingering there for a few seconds; instantly making the young adolescent blush and his eyes go wide with shock,

"I… I d-don't-" he started as she pulled away and buried his head against her chest, hugging him as she wrapped her arms around his head, keeping him close to her; her face nuzzled his spikes,

"I just need you to know that no matter what, I'll always be there for you… till the end," she began, her heart hammering wildly against her chest as her cheeks turned red, "And it's been a while since I was… uh, I… was… w-what I mean is that I-"

Her grip loosened on Aikon for a moment, long enough for him to look up,

"What are you saying, Selrie?" Aikon asked, now genuinely confused as he pulled away to look at her square in the face, making her face heat up even more,

"Aikon, all I wanted to s-say is t-that I-I like y-"

"Hope we're not interrupting anything… ow!" Colrab winced in pain as he massaged the side of his arm where Quash had just punched him, "What was THAT for..!"

"Aikon, are you alright?!" Yamoshi called out as he ran towards them, shortly followed by Colrab and Quash, "That was completely insane my friend! You actually managed to beat that long nosed creep,"

'Dammit..!' Selrie thought to herself as she sighed loudly and glared at Colrab, 'They just HAD to ruin the moment,'

"Hey! Quit all the niceties," Quash yelled as she pushed them all aside and pointed at Aikon angrily, "What the HELL was that just now!? You were suddenly all buff and taller and scarier! What's up with that!? Are you on steroids? Or hiding some witchcraft magical techniques or something!?"

"W-WHAT..!?" Aikon stuttered, "N-no..! What makes you think that!?"

"Well, whatever power you showed earlier didn't look normal to me," Quash countered as she narrowed her eyes at him, "Whatever fluke it was, I WILL surpass you eventually, ya hear me!?"

"Jeez Quash cut the guy some slack, will ya?" Colrab intervened as he patted Aikon's shoulder, "The important thing is that Aikon won, and that's all that matters,"

As the five teens celebrated their victory, the pressure door slid aside as a young woman with blue skin and pink hair stood there, looking surprised; she was wearing a blouse with a skirt-like armor around her waist.

She definitely wasn't a Saiyan, and she looked too weak to be a fighter. They figured she was probably one of the working staff members,

"Sir..? You've exceeded your- … o-oh my! What happened here?" she started as she looked around the room,

They all stood their silently looking at each other – not saying a word,

"W-well as you can see, we were here training with Lieutenant Kosho," Colrab began, "But technically he uh…"

 _Big brain time!_

"Oh sorry, my friend here is a bit slow," Quash butt in as she nudged Colrab, pushing him away, "Y'see, all five of us were sparring Lieutenant Kosho and then this uh… Saibaman exploded in his face, yeah! BOOM! So umm, yeah we passed! Hehehehe,"

All four of the Saiyans stared at Quash wide eyed as she reasoned with the tall woman, who looked deep in thought,

"Are you sure this is gonna work, Quash?" Colrab whispered angrily to her,

"Just play along will ya, you big baby!?" she hissed back, "And besides what other choice do we have? Kosho's out cold which clearly means we passed his little skirmish. The main objective here was to survive wasn't it? And we all survived which means we're in,"

The messy haired hybrid Saiyan exchanged confused looks with his other three friends as they looked back just as speechless,

"Technically, she isn't wrong," Yamoshi whispered to Aikon and Selrie, who nodded subtly,

"A-and if you don't believe us, there's the Saibaman's remains in that corner there," Quash continued as she pointed to the Saibaman that Kosho had mutilated before,

"Oh yeah, I didn't see that… okay then, seems legit," the woman looked over at the clipboard in her hand as she motioned the young Saiyans out of the room, "Now that that's over with, if you would all kindly follow me, I'll lead you to your dorms,"

"What about Aikon?" Selrie asked as she looked at the Saiyan worriedly, unsure to leave his side, "He's hurt and he needs urgent medical attention,"

"You need not worry about him," she replied casually, "I just informed a group of nurses to be dispatched here to collect Prince Aikon so they'll be here to take him and Lieutenant Kosho to the healing room any minute now. He'll be good as new in no time and he'll join you all shortly in a few days' time,"

"Selrie, I'll be fine. You should go," Aikon hissed as he leaned against the wall, "Trust me,"

Unsure what to do next, she wrapped her arms around him, catching him by surprise yet again,

'Well… this is awkward,' Colrab thought to himself as he tried looking elsewhere, scratching his head uneasily as he looked at Quash smile at them subconsciously and Yamoshi's shaking head as he chuckled, 'Guess I'll just have to step up my game,'

"You've got really loving friends," the woman smiled as Aikon sighed and watched them leave, "That's a real rare gift, if I've ever seen one,"

"Yeah, guess I do," he smiled to himself as they disappear out of the room along with the woman,

Shortly afterwards, a group of alien nurses came into the room carrying two stretchers under their arms as they hauled both Aikon and Kosho into one each, carrying them away.

All the while, the whole spectacle was being watched by the Captain of the Saiyan Army,

"What an unexpected turn of events," Horenzo said to himself as he stroked his moustache thoughtfully, "It seems that Prince Aikon has inherited some of his great grandfather's genes,"

He typed a few commands on his monitor screen as it now shifted to display a dark room where a single light bulb hung from the ceiling; casting a dim light over a shadowy figure chained across a wall.

Their chest, arms and legs were riddled with battle scars and they only wore a thin dirty brown cloth around their waist. The chains around their ankles and arms hummed with energy as they glowed dark purple, and their head was hung low, obscuring their features from view. They also had spiky jet black hair and for some reason, no tail.

"Milord..?" Horenzo began as he spoke into the small microphone,

"Horenzo," the man boomed, not looking up,

"You were right," he continued, "The son, is indeed the true heir to the bloodline,"

The figure tilted their head slightly upwards as they looked directly into the camera with glowing red eyes, grinning from ear to ear,

"Excellent."

(-)

"Alright, this will be your new room,"

The woman chimed as she swiped a keycard on a pressure door, letting it slide open and revealing a large room inside,

There were three light blue and chartreuse colored metal-framed bunk beds in one corner of the room with a ladder on the side for climbing up, a round glass coffee table in another corner of the room with a large sofa and a three chairs around it, a small television facing it, a small refrigerator in another corner and a door adjacent to the wall opposite the beds that was the bathroom. There was also a long end-to-end elliptical glass window that stretched over one wall; looking outside facing the rest of the campus and the city twinkling in the horizon.

"Oh hey, you must be those new roommates I was told about," a sweet bubbly female voice caught their attention as a beautiful young girl walked up to them from the bathroom, ruffling her short trimmed blue wet hair with a towel as she wrapped it around her neck,

The girl sported as mentioned before; short and trimmed silky hair which were a vibrant blue in color, a flawless golden-tan complexion, large deep stormy grey eyes with black pupils, and a relatively tall build, reaching around Yamoshi's height. She wore a dark blue sleeveless bodysuit with a red Saiyan symbol on the left. The suit reached near her thighs, hugging her shapely hourglass figure, exposing the bottom of her smooth tan legs. She also wore white gloves and matching boots. She also had a light brown tail wrapped around her slender waist.

Both boys jaw-dropped as they noticed this gorgeous girl stand in front of them with her hand casually placed at her hip,

'No way is this hottie our new roommate,' Colrab thought to himself as he shook his head,

"Oh right, this is your roommate Satsuma," the woman introduced the young girl, handing each of them a copy of the keycard and turned to leave, "She's be your sixth partner for the term, so I think you'll all get along nicely. Also, you'll all have to wake up tomorrow at 0400 and get sorted into your homerooms for the year. On that note, I should be going. Lights out in 3 hours… goodnight!"

With that, she closed the door and left.

"Howdy," Satsuma greeted them coolly, smiling as she gave a little wave,

"Name's Yamoshi," the said Saiyan introduced himself as he gestured towards the others, "This here's Colrab, Quash and over there's Selrie,"

"Pleased to meet you," Selrie replied warmly as Quash simply nodded at the blunette, acknowledging her, while Colrab simply stared confusedly, his brows knitted together,

'This girl seems a bit… familiar…'

"Umm hi, is something wrong?" Satsuma began as she quirked her eyebrow at him questioningly,

"N-no no, I'm sorry… it's just that I was a bit lost in thought," the messy black haired hybrid Saiyan replied as he looked around, "But in all seriousness, have we met before?"

The blue haired hybrid Saiyan girl tilted her head to the side thoughtfully, studying Colrab's face for a while before she shrugged,

"Your face does look kind of familiar to me too, but no…" she shook her head, "I don't think I recall anything, sorry,"

Meanwhile as they talked a bit more, Quash casually walked over to the refrigerator, looking inside before slamming it shut unsatisfied and jumping over on top of one of the bunk beds,

"I call dibs on the top bunk," she called out as she tossed off her boots and stretched her feet, "All y'all can sleep wherever,"

"Yeah, sure whatever," Selrie waved her hand casually, "I prefer keeping my feet on the ground anyways,"

"Well, if no-one else's minding; then I want the top bunk too!" Colrab declared as he dashed towards the other beds, only to be pulled back by his tail by none other than Yamoshi, causing him to fall facedown, "Ugh!"

"No way! Who says you get to sleep on top?" he stated blankly, "THAT top bunk is mine!"

"Hey no fair, I called it first!" Colrab shot back, glaring at him,

"What are you, eight?! I already told you that top bunk is mine!" Yamoshi argued,

"Why don't you both take the top bunks? I'm fine sleeping on the ground too," Satsuma suggested but was ignored,

"Rock paper scissors, on three,"

"You're on… now get ready to taste defeat!"

As the boys fought, Satsuma sighed as she casually walked over to Selrie's bed, sitting herself next to her,

"What's up?" the short spiky haired girl questioned,

"I was meaning to ask you something…" she started, "I was told that there was gonna be five of you guys, with the fifth one being Prince Aikon, but I don't see him anywhere,"

This caught Selrie quite off guard,

"You know Aikon?"

The girl shrugged nonchalantly,

"Not by person, but don't we all? I hear he's the son of our prestigious king, King Abbage. When I heard he'd be joining us, I wanted to meet him for myself,"

"Yeah well," Selrie began as she looked down at her slightly bloodied hands sadly, "Aikon's had a rough night. He's pretty beat up and injured from this entrance fight we had a while ago, so he's probably in the medical room healing up as we speak. I just hope he gets well soon,"

"I think you ought to wash that blood," Satsuma asked pointedly as Selrie blinked at her before looking down,

"Right, yeah… excuse me," she replied before getting up and walking over to the bathroom,

Satsuma watched the girl walk away slowly, taking in her form.

"This Selrie girl got slightly jealous when I mentioned Aikon…" Satsuma smiled, "This oughta be fun,"

Her thoughts were interrupted by the two boys' constant yelling,

"Tie, go again!"

"Tie, go again!"

"Tie, go AGAIN!"

"Stop copying me!"

"YOU stop copying ME!"

Quash groaned loudly in irritation as she tossed a pillow straight at Colrab,

"You two idiots are still at it!? Gimme a break!" she snapped, "Just be mature about it and pick a bed already, we don't have all night to waste!"

Both boys looked at each other before they nodded and started one last time;

"Rock, paper, scissor, shoot!"

"Yes, yes! I won," Yamoshi hollered as he smacked his scissors hand hard against Colrab's paper hand, making him grumble, "Take THAT _Kohlrabi_! Ya can't beat the ace,"

"Ah man," he mumbled to himself, "I almost had you!"

"Almost had me!? Hah!" Yamoshi shot back as he laughed loudly in his, "Yeah right, keep telling yourself that pipsqueak,"

"Oh yeah before I almost forgot to tell you guys," Satsuma started as she pointed to some cupboards in the corner, "You guys should change into your training suits like what I have right here, it's what we're told to wear here pretty much all the time,"

"Really..? But I really like this battle suit I have on…" Colrab muttered as he sighed sadly,

"Don't worry about it," Satsuma said, "You'll get to wear your battle suits when we go on missions later on, so it's all good,"

"Wait, we get to go on missions too!?" Yamoshi gasped excitedly,

"That'll be awesome," Selrie added as she walked out of the bathroom, "I can't wait to go and fight some baddies around in space soon,"

"So, are we supposed to just leave them like that?" Quash began as she tugged at the hem, "Won't they go dirty just lying in our cupboards the whole time? And what if we outgrow them?"

"No silly, just toss them in the laundry chute under that small door in the bathroom. They'll take care of it until you need it later, and resize it too, if need be,"

After they had all showered and changed into their own respective training suits – identical to Satsuma's, they all sat around the coffee table together, talking to each other about general topics and telling Satsuma about their old master; Kalabash sensei and all his training.

"Wow, it sounds like you guys had some really nice adventures," she leaned back on her corner of the sofa, yawning, "I wish I had met you all sooner so I could experience all this too, haha,"

"Heh, don't worry about it," Yamoshi replied casually as he nudged her lightly, "You're a part of our wolf pack too now, and I can tell we'll have a lot of fun together,"

"That sounded VERY wrong," Quash added smugly as Selrie and Colrab burst out laughing, making the older teen blush and the blunette look away embarrassed,

"I-I didn't mean it like that..!" he waved his arms in defense, "Jeez Quash, why you gotta make things so awkward all the time?"

"All part of my charm, I guess," she winked and sipped some juice from her bottle,

'Yeah… and also part of the reason why you're so cute too,' Yamoshi thought to himself before his thoughts were interrupted as Satsuma tapped his shoulder lightly,

"Hey Yamoshi?" she began, "Prince Aikon, the king's son… you and him seem very close, right?"

"Oh yeah for sure," he replied cheerily, "Aikon may sometimes seem like the cold, unfriendly and distanced type, but deep down he's a pretty cool and caring person who always wants to do good and make a difference,"

"Really..?" Satsuma blinked, "From what I hear, isn't he like his father? All cold and racist like the king?"

"That's what we all thought pretty much thought in the beginning as well," Colrab added, "But after getting to know him more, we realized that he's not at all like that. In fact, there's this one time when he was there to help us take down a bunch of rogue Saibamen who had raided the Ardos Festival,"

"It didn't really go as planned and we lost a good friend on the way, but we did manage to save the locals and got to know more about him in the process, so there's that," Quash said,

"Aikon's nothing like what his father is," Selrie added lovingly as she sighed, "He's in fact, the most powerful Saiyan we ever knew, who's also got a very sweet and sensitive side,"

"Is that's so..? Huh, Aikon really does seem special," Satsuma pondered thoughtfully, "I would really like to meet him one of these days and see if that's all true then,"

"Oh you will," Colrab replied, "It's just a few days' time before our friend is back and kicking,"

'Just a few days' time…' Satsuma thought to herself smiling; her pupils glowing red for a split second,

 _Meanwhile, back at the royal castle…_

"Well, would you look at that," Abbage began as he walked up to his large king sized bed in a dark blue nightgown before slipping it off, revealing a pair of black boxers before slipping in next to his wife who wore matching lacey red lingerie, "It seems our son and his lower class friends made it into the Academy,"

The woman rolled her eyes at him,

"Must you always talk so poorly about the lower class, Abbage?" she began as he grumbled to himself, "Honestly, you really embarrass me sometimes,"

"Then I guess I should do it more often then," he replied smoothly, his voice low as he wrapped his hands around her waist, pulling her closer to him as she smiled and laid her head on his chiseled chest, "There, that's the beautiful smile I was dying to see all day,"

"Stop it," Carro giggled as she lightly smacked his pecs, "You're still a royal A-grade jerk though,"

"But I'm your jerk,"

"You got that right, you big ape," she giggled, pecking his cheek as she wrapped her tail around his slightly thicker one before she gazed hopefully into his face, "Abbage..?"

"Yes, my queen?" he replied as he looked back at her with his smoldering sharp eyes, making her face blush,

"I was thinking this over," she began, tracing a slender index finger over his smooth pale chest, "Why didn't we ever… you know…"

"What do you mean?"

"Why didn't we ever try for another child after I had Aikon?" she started as Abbage's face dropped, "I mean, it's not that I don't enjoy having safer planned sex with you but-"

"I thought we already talked this over, Carro…" he sighed irritably,

"I know I know…" she continued, "But I always wanted more than one child Abbage. You know how much I love children-"

"Oh boy, here we go again…" he shot back as he pulled away from her, unwrapping his tail from hers, "What's the point of it all if you'll just give birth to another weakling like our son? Do you realize how embarrassing it would be for us as the royal Saiyan family if something like THAT ever happened again!? As if Aikon isn't enough of a joke on his own,"

"Abbage!? What are you saying?" she cried as she glared at him, her expressions etched with disbelief and hurt, "How can you say such things about your own son? I know you and Aikon don't exactly see eye to eye sometimes, but don't you have any compassion?"

"Oh come on woman, look at him!" he shot back, "Our son is a soft weakling. Face it! He's never had a spine and he's simply unfit to be called a true Saiyan. At his age, I nearly murdered my worthless twin Erion in a fight for the crown and left him to die in a pit. Whereas YOUR son can't even kill a pathetic Saibaman without feeling sorry about it like some weak willed piece of space waste,"

"He's just a gentle and soft hearted child Abbage," she sobbed, "It's true that we're all a battle driven warrior race, but that doesn't mean we all have to be savages. Just because our son is different from you in the fact that he isn't as cruel, that doesn't mean you talk about him like he's some reject. Like it or not, Aikon's YOUR flesh and blood too… he even has the same face as you do… heck he's even starting to develop the same voice box as you have. If it weren't for the slightly tan skin tone and darker tail shade he inherited from my side, he'd even pass as your younger double,"

"I admit we do share the same looks, but he is in NO WAY anything like me,"

"Exactly… he isn't anything like you," she replied as she lay down, turning her back towards him looking away, her eyes tearing up slightly, "All our son really needs is a little love Abbage. He needs love from both his parents. He has nobody else besides us,"

The Saiyan king stared at his wife's back for a while – lightly marked with scars from all the previous battles over the years, their personal squabbles and fights from the past days, but yet still so unimaginably smooth and flawless to the touch; as he thought over her words carefully before he sighed and reached out to her once more, caressing her skin as she shook his hand away roughly,

"Don't you dare touch me, you asshole," she snapped at him, her voice breaking as she sobbed to herself, "Everyone's right, you really are nothing but a heartless brute and the reason why our race is more than likely to be doomed,"

Although Abbage hated to admit it, but for the first time ever in his life, the words she said to him had actually hurt. He could face all the hate thrown to him, all the words said against him, but if there's one thing that he hated was when his wife looked at him the way she was right now.

Deep down, he truly and deeply loved Carro more than anyone. She was his mate. Their bodies had bonded together. Sure the Saiyans sometimes had multiple mates in their lifetime, but she was the only one for him, and he knew that. His body only reacted to her and he knew it was the same for her too. He may have hurt her countless times in the past in his fits of rage, and it's true that sometimes he refused to sleep with her altogether and make her feel unwanted even… but he'd be lying if he said it didn't hurt him. In fact if anything, he was the one hurting more in the end as he'd cry himself to sleep sometimes and what sort of monster he was to his one true love.

Abbage loved her.

In the end of the day, despite being the tyrannical, brave and heartless ruler that he was, his day would never be complete until and unless he would see his beautiful wife.

Just the thought of losing her, tore him from the inside. He would die than lose his Carro to anyone ever.

"I'm sorry Carro… for everything," he whispered in her ear as he wrapped his large arms around her from the back – making her body stiffen up slightly at the unexpected gesture and her eyes go wide with surprise,

"Pardon?" she stuttered, feeling his much larger warm body close around her smaller one perfectly. Almost as if they were two pieces of the same puzzle,

"You're right, I'm an asshole," he began, "I've treated you like trash, put you and our son through hell and even outright neglected our relationship so many times… I'm sorry for that Carro,"

"I-I don't believe this…" she squirmed against him, still unable to process what was happening, "What are you saying?"

"Then let me make you into a believer…"

He wrapped his arms closer around her, feeling her body as he nuzzled her neck from the side and back, kissing and licking on the sensitive flesh below her ear and under her jaw; making her squirm even more and arch her neck into his hungry touch,

"Abbage~…" she involuntarily moaned his name, grinding against his hardening manhood close to her rear,

He kissed along her bare shoulder as he pulled back her bra straps, kissing more and more of her newly exposed flesh, lightly nibbling the skin every now and then as Carro bit her lower lip and felt heat growing in the pit of her stomach, already feeling her underwear getting moist,

Abbage turned her over, completely discarding her bra as he smothered his face inside her ample breasts; kissing and licking her sensitive flesh before suckling her hardening nipples. Carro moaned loudly, her breath coming out in short pants as she wrapped her lean arms around her lover's jet black spiky mane, holding him in place as she tugged, pulled and buried her fingers deeper in his scalp; making him groan at the sensation,

The dominant male rolled his prey over on her back, climbing on top as he began kissing and biting her sensitive neck; leaving noticeable love bites all over her skin, neither one caring if he sometimes bit too hard and or drew blood every so often, only to be medicated by his more than eager tongue and warm breath that sent shivers all over the prey's body,

"You're so beautiful…" he mumbled between kisses as he kissed down her lightly toned abs and stomach; making her mewl in response as she rubbed her thighs together; unable to form a coherent response and apparently still very confused upon how this wild side of him resurfaced after so many years,

But she was no way in hell complaining. She wanted more,

"Abbage..! I want you," she moaned in between heavy breaths as he licked and bit around her sensitive navel all the while playing with her breasts, "I want you so badly! I c-can't take it anymore..! J-just take me already dammit!"

The king of the Saiyans looked up at her, his lips tugged upwards in that smug grin that always set her heart on fire as he reached over to her; placing one hand around her smooth waist, cradling her as he pulled her up to face him,

"All in good time, my queen," his voice dripping with arousal as he stroked her cheek, tracing her lips with his thumb before gently holding her chin between his fingers before smashing his lips against hers, making her moan into his mouth as he parted her lips and clashed his tongue against hers in a heated dance of passion.

As they pulled apart to catch their breaths, he dove for her neck as he purred into her ear, kissing across her jaw,

"Now tell me… would you rather it be another boy or maybe a girl this time?"

"Huh..?"

Carro's eyes widened at what she heard, and if she heard correctly – but before she could form an answer, Abbage closed the gap between them, sealing it with another passionate kiss as she tangled her fingers in his hair as she kissed him back just as wildly, not wanting to ever let him go,

However, their love-making was short lived as their moment of intimacy was interrupted by a loud beeping sound from the communicator projector Abbage had left on the dressing table, growing louder and more unbearable by the second, until;

"Dammit! Who the hell could that be at this time!?" Abbage reluctantly pulled away from his disgruntled and clearly wife, who simply growled in response at being interrupted in the heat as he reluctantly pulled away from her, "I'll make this quick, my love,"

He stroked her cheek lovingly before jumping out of bed – pulling up his boxers once again as he walked over to the projector, pressing a button on the side as Karifuwara's face popped up, his eyes wide with fear as he noticed his king's furious face,

"My king..?"

"What the hell is the matter, Karifuwara!?" he barked at him angrily, "Don't you have anything better to do than to disturb me and the queen tonight?"

"My deepest apologies my liege… but if it weren't a life or death situation here, I would never have bothered you,"

"Well, what is it then? Spit it out already!"

"King Tuffle has sent us a report of a powerful Saiyan whose gone rogue and is wreaking havoc in the main city of Planet Plant," he began, "They say that it's one of our men who never returned home and now he's gone insane. What should we do?"

"Planet Plant..? I don't remember any recent missions to that place," he replied, "How can a Saiyan pop up out of nowhere?"

"We checked our old logs, and it appears that there was indeed one particular Saiyan who did not return back home successfully. He was supposedly reported to be dead, but from what we're hearing, he's the one who's probably causing this," Karifuwara continued, his voice serious, "Hence, we need you over here at the Elite Academy as soon as possible to discuss the details with the rest of the Council,"

"I'll be there in the morning," Abbage replied, ready to close the communicator as Karifuwara interrupted him,

"Umm… actually my king," he continued, "The problem is pretty deadly. King Tuffle has declared that if we don't get rid of this menace as soon as possible, he'll nullify the treaty we agreed on to expand our Saiyan colony there,"

Abbage sighed as he gritted his teeth in frustration,

"Tch… fine, I'll be there right away," he replied as he ended the call and replaced the projector back on the dressing table, running his hands through his hair,

"Abbage..? It's not that serious is it?"

"It seems it is. I have to go, Carro," he said seriously as he turned to face her, "Whatever this Saiyan threat is, it must be pretty serious if they called in to need my assistance on this mission as well,"

"If that's the case, then I'm coming as well," Carro started as she threw the sheets aside, getting up, "I don't want to leave your side if it's that much serious of a threat,"

At that, Abbage rushed forward and took her by the shoulders,

"No, I want you to stay here-"

"Abbage, you know well enough I'm a powerful warrior myself and I'm more than capable of taking down any threat we may come across,"

"I know, Carro… and I don't doubt you for a second," Abbage sighed, "But I need you to stay here at Sadal and rule in my absence,"

"But-"

"Carro… please," Abbage cupped her face as he looked into her face, "Just in case I don't make it back. I need you here for me,"

Carro was silent before she nodded slowly,

"I-I understand sweetheart," Carro replied, "But no matter what happens on Plant, I need you to promise me something,"

"What is it?"

"No matter what happens, you'll return home safely after all this is done," she stated as he smiled at her and nodded, "You'll come back home safely and we'll finish what we started, you got that?"

Abbage quickly dressed himself into his royal battle suit in the next few minutes, as he walked back to Carro one last time, kissing her gently as they hugged one last time before pulling away,

"Go to sleep now, my queen," he stroked her short hair lovingly as she closed her eyes and reveled in his touch, placing her hand over his, "I'll be back before you know it,"

"You better be,"

 **End Episode (Outro Song: "Rock the Dragon")**

 _King Abbage attends the meeting with the rest of the Council, discussing over what to do about this new Saiyan threat that has popped up on Planet Plant._

 _Meanwhile, it looks like Yamoshi and the others are about to face the biggest test of the mind, as the first task for them at hand is to master 'The 6_ _th_ _Sense' and imbue their skills with the power of Bending. Are they up to the challenge, or will they make utter fools of themselves as opposed to the other, more experienced elite students who are gunning for them?_

 _Find out in the upcoming episode; "The training of an Elite Warrior – Yamoshi VS Mizuna."_

 _Next time on Dragon Ball XA._


	6. Season 2 Chapter 1

**Cumber/Elite Academy Arc  
(Intro Song: "Piece Sign")**

 _Episode #1:_ _"The training of an Elite Warrior – Yamoshi VS Mizuna."_

Abbage marched into the large meeting room followed by a few of his fellow Saiyan attendants – looking considerably pissed as he took a seat at the head of the table,

"All hail the king!" they all chanted as the man waved them off casually,

"Let's just get this drama over with," he started, "I need someone to go through all the details from the top,"

"Sir, from what our recent reports tell us, there appears to be a hulking Saiyan brute – who we've been told might be one of our own soldiers who never returned home and was presumably believed to be dead, is going rampant over on Planet Plant and causing mass chaos," a Saiyan with the name of Tamanegi spoke up. He had slicked back hair and bushy brows, dressed in a blue caped black and brown battle suit spoke up, "He's gone berserk and has already killed quite a few of the locals in his heightened bloodlust… the numbers are increasing as we speak,"

"Another Great Ape problem..?" Kyabetsu questioned,

"Not quite," he continued, "From what our intel has gathered, the Saiyan appears to be in his base. However, he's exhibiting a lot of power… as if he's in some sort of trance-like state which has managed to give him a considerable boost in power, quite possibly a power which may rival or even surpass that of a Great Ape's,"

"Tch, that's preposterous," Karifuwara scoffed, "The power of an Oozaru has been every Saiyan's most reliable source of raw power since the time of the first Saiyan that birthed us,"

"Yes that may be true, unless…" Kyabetsu began slowly as all eyes turned to her before she shook her head, "Unless if this one has somehow managed to gain the legendary power-"

"Oh? Are you referring to the power of the Legendary Super Saiyan now..?" Abbage interrupted as he laughed aloud, "Don't be daft! We ALL know well enough that that sort of power can only be passed down through generations, and the only known bloodline of the legend has passed down from none other than MY own forefather… the late Legendary Lord Ramp. If anyone's to gain such a power, it has to be someone from his lineage and not some low class scum,"

"With all due respect, my liege," Tamanegi continued, "It's been known that Lord Ramp had a few mates throughout his lifetime. It wouldn't be surprising if this particular Saiyan may be the son of one of his children. Either that, or there is still one very important and powerful warrior you're missing out, who too was able to gain access to a similar greater power a few years after Lord Ramp's disappearance, not too long ago too,"

"Enlighten me, General. Who is this you speak of?"

"Yamoshi the First,"

The entire room became dead silent at the mention of that name, as the rest of the Saiyans looked away uneasily gulping while Abbage's gaze turned deathly cold as he glared at Tamanegi from his seat,

"Don't you dare mention that traitor's name in my presence again," Abbage started; his voice dangerously low as he proceeded to point his finger in Tamanegi's direction, "Ever."

"M-my apologies, your majesty…" he started quickly as he got up and bowed quickly, "I meant no offense..!"

Abbage shook his head irritably as he leaned back in his seat, looking away thoughtfully as his eyes were tinged with a bit of sadness,

"Yamoshi was nothing more than a thieving scumbag," Abbage continued, "And after all that my father, King Arsnip did for him… picking him up off the streets and giving him a position amongst his most prestigious elite ranks, and what does that bastard do..? He broke our code and entered the Ancestral Crypt, and dug through the various tombs of the Elders; managing to get his hands on the sacred tomes of the recipe of the Super Saiyan God and steal it for his personal gain… it makes my blood boil just thinking about it. I wouldn't be surprised if his brat would go on to do the same in his time,"

"Disregard my frankness, milord," Kyabetsu began, "But what became of those sacred tomes now?"

"The tomes were destroyed," Abbage replied bluntly, "Nevertheless, I do not wish to talk about this topic any further. We need to focus on the current issue on hand,"

"Very well, my liege," Karifuwara began, "Me and Kosho have been training each of our respective squadrons intensely for the past few years and I'm pleased to let you know that our men will be more than ready to fight and subdue this threat with fair ease,"

"That's good. We'll need all the muscle we can possibly get on this operation," Abbage nodded, "What're your men's average power levels?"

"Approximately twelve thousand, milord," Horenzo interjected, smirking confidently,

The king's eyes widened as he leaned forward in his seat, eyeing the captain,

"Come again," Abbage blinked, "Did you say… twelve thousand?"

"Indeed I did, sire," Horenzo replied cockily, "Not only them, but most of us all here have been training intensely for the longest time, so it's safe to assume that each of us will far exceed, or have already exceeded the ten thousand power level milestone, if not on our own accord, then quite easily once we go full power, without the need to utilize our Great Ape forms,"

"Hahaha, impressive..!" Abbage laughed as he crossed his arms, nodding, "It pleases me to see you all are in top form. You did your Saiyan heritage proud,"

"In addition, my king," Horenzo continued, "I would also like to suggest the assistance of another young Saiyan to join our ranks for this particular mission, if you so graciously allow it,"

"And who might that be?" Abbage raised an eyebrow at the captain as he smirked,

"Why, it's none other than your own son, milord… Prince Aikon,"

The entire meeting room erupted in gasps of shock.

 _The next morning… at 0355_

Yamoshi, Selrie, Colrab, Quash and Satsuma, along with a number of other young Saiyans, all made their way across the wide expansive campus grounds as they lined up behind the various rows upon rows of the students, getting ready for the early morning assembly.

"Phew, and not a minute too late," Colrab mumbled as he stretched his arms,

"Start of the first day, looking good if I do say so myself," Quash nodded confidently as she lined up behind Colrab and Selrie, followed by Satsuma and Yamoshi, "Guess all those early morning crack of dawn exercises with Master Kalabash really paid off. I feel fresh as ever!"

Selrie looked around to see that all the other students, besides themselves, all dressed in the same dark blue bodysuit from the night before,

She however, wondered how long it'd be before they'd be sorted into their respective Houses and if any of her friends would be there with her.

Guess she'll have to wait and see.

"Good morning, freshies!"

A loud, authoritative voice caught their attention as a massive, bald and slightly dark skinned Saiyan with a large cleft jaw, sharp black squarish eyes and a light brown tail wrapped around his waist marched up on the stage, his hands on his hips; looking over at the younger lot. He was dressed in a black bodysuit with a red Saiyan symbol, white gloves with a smartwatch on his left wrist with matching boots and a silver whistle dangling from his neck.

He was followed by a much smaller elderly staff woman – clearly not Saiyan; who carried a large briefcase with her and stood in the corner of the stage,

"I hope you lot had a good night's sleep, because very soon, I'm gonna leave you all so exhausted, you'd be wishing you were still cuddled up in your blankets back home," he barked loudly,

Colrab subconsciously gulped a thick lump in his throat,

"Allow me to introduce myself," the man continued, "My name is General Tarro, and I will be your new coach and sports facilitator for the following years you spend here at the Elite Saiyan Academy. My job here is simple… to ensure that each and every single one of you lot is up to date with your general sports activities and overall fitness. Your kicks, punches, motor skills and even the way you fly and carry yourself needs to be in top form. I will stretch, mold and beat every single one your bodies into perfection, and by the end of this term, you'll all notice how all the unnecessary fat or loose skin on your bones will be converted to pure, unadulterated sexy muscle so FINE as hell, that every time you look at yourself naked in the mirror, you won't be able to help but touch yourself… hahaHA!"

An uneasy wave of tension swarmed over the sea of students as each one of them stared incredulously at the man as he proceeded to pose before them and show off his pecs, making them move,

'This guy is nuts,' Quash thought to herself,

"Now then," Tarro snapped as he straightened up and beckoned the woman behind him to come forward, "Before we begin our daily early morning routine, I will read out each of your names so you're all sorted into your new respective Houses. Then you will collect your uniforms from Ms. Bonbon here and go get changed in one of the changing rooms on the left there, and then proceed to make a neatly organized row over there on the side, according to each of your Houses. Bear in mind that if anyone takes more than a minute in there, I will personally drag your asses out with your tails! Is that clear?!"

"Yes sir!"

Tarro pulled out the long piece of parchment from his pockets as he scanned the contents before looking ahead at the large crowd of young students, calling out names in alphabetical order as the said boy or girl stepped up, got sorted into their House, and went over to the rooms to change.

"Let's see here… Colrab,"

Colrab nervously stepped up in front of Tarro as the man looked him over and read aloud from the paper,

"Your new House is… Collard," Tarro barked as Ms. Bonbon waddled up next to him,

"Stand still with your arms stretched to the side while I take your measurements," she started as Colrab obediently stood there in an awkward T-pose,

After a few minutes, she walked back to her briefcase as she handed him a green colored pack before practically pushing him off over towards the changing rooms. A while later, he walked back out; dressed in a smart looking sleeveless dark and light green uniform with black and light green boots and matching gloves with a smartwatch on his left one. The increasing crowd of young Saiyans in the Collard row clapped and cheered as he joined them.

As more and more Saiyans got sorted into their houses, it was eventually Quash' turn,

"Your name is Quash huh? How ironic. House Squash..!"

Quash rolled her eyes as she took a yellow colored pack and walked back out of the changing rooms, now dressed in a yellow and white colored uniform identical to Colrab's in design, albeit more slimmer and feminine looking in appearance, as she joined the crowd of students in the Squash row.

Eventually, it was Satsuma's turn,

"Your house… is Pepper!" as she was soon handed a red and black colored uniform,

Then after a few more names, it was Selrie next…

"Oh, this one's my personal favorite House… Rutabaga,"

Ms. Bonbon continued to hand a deep blue and purple colored uniform to her.

Towards the end, it was Yamoshi's turn,

"Another one for House Quash..!"

And with a few more names being called out, all the students were now sorted equally into their new respective Houses.

Even though most of the other students were pretty much disheartened about getting separated from some of their friends, Yamoshi couldn't help but still feel excited about what was to come next. And besides, this separation meant that they were free to explore and make new friends. He looked down at his new uniform, feeling a smile crept upon his face,

He deserved this.

The uniform was made of a hard, yet comfortable material that allowed a lot of breathing room and space to move freely. He figured it to be made up of the same stuff the battle suit armors are made of,

"Hey Yam!" his thoughts were interrupted as a familiar long spiky haired Saiyan girl tapped him on the shoulder, "Guess me and you were sorted together, huh? Guess it's fate,"

Of course, he couldn't forget that Quash was in Squash House as well. That fact alone made him even happier,

"Hehe, hey there Quash," he replied as he turned to face her with his usual cheerful grin, "Yeah! It's gonna be fun, don'cha think?"

"Hell yeah it's gonna be fun!" she replied excitedly as she smacked him lightly on the chest, all pumped up, "You better believe that our House is gonna reach the top, me and you baby… we're gonna CRUSH this!"

Meanwhile, Selrie looked over the large sea of colorful students, trying to find any familiar faces as she met the soft eyes of Colrab standing in the far opposing corner of the court, giving her a reassuring smile which made her smile back.

'I can do this. I'll just have to make new friends… that's all,'

"Tch, this is sooo boring!" a tall Saiyan teenage boy around the same age as her, standing behind her in the Rutabaga row groaned loudly as he crossed his arms and looked around visually annoyed, "When are we gonna get some REAL training done,"

He was dressed in the same uniform as everyone else in the row and he had a slim, yet well-built frame with black spiky hair that had a slight tint of brown and prominently stood upwards atop his head – kinda like Aikon's in a way, but with a much broader forehead that was dominated by a prominent widow's peak and sharp, piercing eyes that seemed to have a permanently plastered stern look. He also had a light brown tail which was wrapped around his waist.

He caught Selrie looking at him curiously as he turned his attention to her, quirking his eyebrow questioningly,

"What? Something you wanna say to me, shorty?" he snapped as she blushed and looked away embarrassed, "Yeah, yeah that's right. Keep looking ahead if ya know what's good for ya,"

"Hey what's the big idea, peabrain? Do you mind keeping it down..?"

Another much shorter Saiyan boy with very short very messy black hair standing in front of Selrie started as he looked back at the boy sternly. He had soft black eyes, a peach complexion and a light brown tail. He looked at Selrie and then back at the other boy, glaring,

"Stop being a bully and focus your attitude towards the competition instead, will ya, you peabrain?" he started, "We're all on the same team here, if you forgot,"

"What..!? PEABRAIN!? You DARE call me a peabrain, rich scum!?" he growled, "I'll have you know that my name is Vegeta! And I'm the strongest Saiyan my age from my village in the southern end! So you better watch who you're talking to because chances are I'm already leagues above the rest of you weaklings!"

'Care to bet on that?' Selrie thought to herself as she shook her head at his cockiness,

"Give it a rest, village boy," the Saiyan waved him off as he turned away, "We'll see just how powerful everyone really is in due time,"

"Hmph, yeah whatever. Good that you know what's in store for you," the taller boy snapped as he looked away, crossing his arms, "And mind your own business..."

The boy shook his head as he turned to Selrie,

"I am so sorry you had to deal with that," he began, "Guess some of us here aren't here to make friends, huh?"

He proceeded to offer his hand to her,

"Name's Jicama," he said, "My parents are civil workers in the Saiyan force and I got into the Elite Academy based on recommendation. What's your story?"

"I'm Selrie," she replied as he smiled and took his hand, "I'm actually from the city. I got here based on his majesty's recommendation,"

Jicama's eyes widened as his jaw dropped,

"Wait, do you mean to say… King Abbage recommended you to be sent here..?" he blinked as she smiled and nodded,

"Uh huh, that's right. Apart from me, I got in here with four other friends of mine. We're all actually friends with Aikon so-"

"Hold up, YOU are friends with Prince Aikon!?" his jaw was practically reaching the ground right now, "That is SOOO COOL! So that must mean he's here too right?"

"Well, he is… but probably not here right now," her face fell as she looked down, "Or if he is, we didn't see him. During our initiation test, Aikon got pretty beat up so he had to be taken away to the medical room,"

"Heh, how pathetic," Vegeta cut in as he scoffed, "You call THAT a prince? Ha! Getting KO'ed in the entrance exam… that is so embarrassing! Ha!"

"Hey, quit being a jerk, Vegeta!" Jicama began as he glared at him, "I'm sure their initiation test was probably brutal much like how most of them tend to be here. Besides, what would YOU know about who Prince Aikon is anyways?"

This irritated the taller Saiyan as he glared at Jicama before looking away,

"Whatever, I don't care to stoop myself to that prince' level," he huffed, "Once he's out of the hospital and back here, I wanna challenge him myself and see where he really stands or if he's all talk. Mark my words you two… I WILL crush the royal family and sooner or later, you're all gonna bow down to me… Vegeta, remember my name!"

"Jeez, you really are full of yourself aren't you?" Selrie sighed as she shook her head,

Still though, in a couple of ways, Selrie couldn't help but wonder how much this Vegeta guy reminded her of Aikon… save for the overwhelming cockiness and rudeness that exuded from every pore of his being and the way he was bold enough to speak his mind. Then again, maybe Vegeta was probably just as anxious and excited as the rest of them here. That could also be the case.

Maybe they could all try and be friends. Besides, even if he did disregard her offer of friendship, it didn't matter to her anyways. From the looks of things, she could already sense that this other kid… Jicama, could be a potential friend too,

'Nothing ventured, nothing gained…'

Nonetheless, she took in a deep breath and turned around to face Vegeta once more – instantly regretting it as his cold eyes turned to her;

"You again..?" he started, "What do you want this time? Don't you have anything better to do then to bother me!?"

Selrie gulped as she finally found her voice to continue,

"I… uh," she sighed, "I think we all got off to a bad start. We're all in the same House after all… it'll only make sense if we became friends right..?"

She extended her small hand out to him as she smiled,

Jicama meanwhile coughed uncomfortably as he scratched his head.

The bigger boy looked at her hand in disgust as he smacked it away, crossing his arms,

"Tch, I don't have time to waste on making friends," he huffed, "Least of all little pansies such as yourselves,"

Selrie cut her eyes at him as she turned away,

"H-hey..!" Jicama gritted his teeth,

"I was just trying to be nice," she replied coldly, "Jerk,"

So much for that idea,

"It's okay, you did what you felt was right," Jicama reassured her, "But don't take it to heart. Guys like him are natural bullies and jerks. He just needs to be taught a lesson, and then he'll come around eventually someday, I think,"

(-)

The sound of General Tarro's whistle rang throughout the court as all eyes turned to him,

"Your attention everyone!" he barked as he clapped his hands, "Now then, I hope you all must have familiarized yourselves with your House members, cos if you haven't, eh, I don't care!"

"Quite the inspiring personnel," Jicama whispered to Selrie next to him, making her giggle,

"Hmph," Vegeta huffed,

"Without further ado, LET'S GET STARTEEEED!" Tarro began as he blew hard on his whistle, "All of you! Start jogging on spot. Fifty reps. Aaaand… begin!"

 _Phweeeeeee!_

The next hour or so was spent doing regular physical exercises; running, stretching, push-ups, sit-ups, the whole nine yards.

"Oh man," Jicama fell back on the grass, panting and sweating, "H-how are you still not out of breath? I'm dying here..!"

Selrie simply jumped off of the metal bars after completing over two hundred pull ups; doing a somersault in the air as she landed gracefully back on the ground on her toes, blowing a strand of stray hair out of her face casually,

"Years of practice? I dunno," she shrugged as she offered him a hand to his feet, "Are you sure okay though..? You're still breathing pretty fast,"

"Huh? Oh yeah, yeah… I'm good," Jicama wheezed as he wiped his sweaty forehead, "Guess I just overdid it a bit with my reps,"

Selrie couldn't help but give Jicama a once over; unlike the rest of her guy friends, Jicama had a considerably lanky build with lighter toned muscles. Moreover, he was also considerably shorter as well, around her height and looked younger too; around her age or maybe even younger.

"Hey, heads up!"

They both turned around as they noticed two chilled juice bottles flying towards them as they both caught them in time,

"Satsuma..?"

And indeed it was, as she waved over to them from the cooler,

"Figured you needed those," she called out, "Especially your friend there. He looked like he was about to pass out, haha! Anyways, later…"

She waved and jogged off as Selrie waved back,

"She a friend of yours..?" Jicama asked as he plopped back down on the grass and took a swig of the cool mango drink,

"Yeah, that was Satsuma, my roommate," Selrie began as she took a seat next to him, sipping her strawberry juice,

"That's cool," Jicama replied as he took another big gulp and sighed, "So Selrie, what did you do before you came here? Did you go to some state academy?"

"Well actually, I trained privately under our instructor, Master Kalabash, pretty much since I was around three or four. That's where I met all my friends too. He has a large dojo in the Capitol City,"

"Interesting," he commented as he nodded and looked ahead, "As for me, like I said, my parents are both civil workers in the Force – technicians basically, not really soldiers,"

"Oh, I see,"

"Yeah… they were never fighters to begin with since they were both born with pretty low power levels, but our families were always pretty wealthy though, so they were allowed to grow up here and not be sent away. I guess that's something," he began, "I never really had to work hard for anything, because my parents were pretty much wealthy from both their family sides… but my father always had a dream of seeing his only son grow up and become a soldier in the Saiyan Force, because he never made the cut himself…"

Selrie silently studied Jicama as he talked more about his family background. She couldn't help but wonder how different each of their lives were; and how even though she never really knew her real parents and who they really were, but she pretty much grew up with a strong willed and battle driven older cousin and aunt who was a lower class soldier, two women who she had called family pretty much all her life.

And then there was this boy who she had barely known and met just a few hours ago but somehow considered a new friend now; and how he grew up among a group of Saiyans who weren't even fighters to begin with, but had a dream of seeing their child become one. She couldn't help but imagine how much his parents must be rooting for him – which was so much more different than how Aikon's parents were with him,

Aikon,

Even now, the dreamy young Saiyan prince failed to leave her mind as she constantly found her own thoughts wandering back to him eventually. She wondered when he'd heal up from his injuries and how soon would he be able to join them.

What's more is that she couldn't stop thinking which House he may be put into when he eventually does come back,

 _Phweeeeeee!_

The sound of Tarro's whistle blaring through the court caught their attention as the massive Saiyan towered above them,

"Alright freshies, that's the end of today's morning training," he started as his wristwatch began beeping, "And just in time too. When you're all done getting all that sweat and dirt off of yourselves, you'll notice that the database should have updated each and every of you on your daily class schedules for the rest of the day on your smartwatches. It should also include a map of the whole campus, should any of you dumbasses happen to get lost or can't find your way around. There's also an alarm and reminder feature built in there so feel free to make use of it any way you see fit. Oh yeah, also a little heads up for you all; flying, floating or boost dashing anywhere on campus grounds for students is against the rules so don't even try any funny business! Now, I guess that's all the heads up you'll need to survive throughout the day. Have a great rest of the day and hope to see you all tomorrow!"

With that, Tarro gave them his signature toothy grin, and took off as most of the students began finishing up their routines and getting ready for the rest of the day,

Once she was done with her shower and changing back into her uniform after having it get cleaned up in the fresher, Selrie opened up her smartwatch and was almost taken aback by all the various apps that holographically hovered in front of her eyes,

"Wow, this is crazy," she said aloud as she scrolled through them, "There's even a call and message system here… but it's blocked off. Of course,"

She started to get tired after scrolling through for over a few more minutes,

"This is too much to process… okay Selrie, try to keep a level head here," she told herself as she kept swiping, "Themes… Lectures… Camera… Attendance… ESA Assistant… ah, here it is… Class Schedule,"

She tapped the levitating icon as a small sheet popped up in front of her that read her classes;

" **Selrie's Class Schedule"** **  
MONDAY:  
** **Elemental Attunement 0700 (Room: 11-B)  
Health and Medicine 1030 (Room: 7-G)  
Lunch Break 1400 (Room: Mess Hall)  
Personal Development 1500 (Room: 2-A) **

"Oh no, only fifteen minutes left for class..!" Selrie cried as she raced towards the next class as fast as she could,

As she skidded around the corner on the eleventh floor, making her way towards the room 11-B, she bumped into a familiar looking face,

"Selrie…? Hey!" Yamoshi started, "You have EA as your current class too?"

"Hey Yam, and yeah…" Selrie nodded, "How long have you been here?"

"Not too long before you bumped in me, haha," he replied, "Let's go inside. I was hoping to find a friend in this huge place,"

As they both walked inside, they noticed that the room was actually an indoor open air garden type sanctuary rather than a classroom; the flooring consisted of actual freshly mown grass lined with bushes and small plants, with some yoga mats placed on one side of the lawn that faced a small levelled podium, a small clear stream running along one side that ended in a small steaming lake in a corner that housed a gushing waterfall, a small pebbly area on one side that had various sized large and small rocks, a small windy cliff area that overlooked the open sky and mountains in the distance and a small smoking sandy dirt area that had various large hovering platters which had strange colored flames and sparks dancing inside.

They noticed that some of the walls also had strange symbols on them,

"Woah, what IS this place..?" Yamoshi began as he and Selrie both took off their boots, looking around,

"This place is beautiful," Selrie said as she walked over the soft grass, "Mm, the grass feels so soft as well,"

"And this place smells strange as well," Yamoshi added as he tilted his head upwards and sniffed the air, "Like… like sweet incense,"

"All to lighten up and lift the overall mood, young one,"

Both teenagers spun around quickly as they turned their attention to a woman levitating next to the small leveled podium – which they could have sworn was empty before; with her feet tucked under her, in a meditating pose. From her looks, she did not look like a Saiyan at all, but in fact, something completely different. Her skin looked, quite literally, like pale light blue bubble gum. She had a round smiling face with no nose, slanted blue eyes, round holes for ears and tentacle-like hair which was pulled back in a sort of ponytail, the same color as the rest of her skin, and four holes in the side of her arms.

She wore a sort of genie-like outfit that consisted of a purple and gold vest that had a gold pattern, a white halter top underneath, black and gold wristbands and purple baggy pants with a white belt around the waist. Her feet were bare.

The woman touched down as she looked over at the two young Saiyans, smiling,

The two young Saiyans and a couple other students nearby were momentarily speechless as the young woman began speaking again,

"Are you all just going to stand there gaping, or shall we begin?"

"R-right, of course..!"

Both Selrie and Yamoshi took a seat on one of the mats as they were joined by more and more students. Selrie felt her throat tighten as Vegeta was the next student to walk in, as he took off his boots and sauntered over to where everyone else sat,

"H-hey, watch it!" a girl yelped as he nonchalantly stepped over her hand and took a seat on one of the mats, "You stepped on my hand,"

Vegeta simply shrugged and smirked, not bothering to apologize,

"Boy, what a jerk," Yamoshi commented as he shook his head,

"Yeah, he sorta is," Selrie started, "That's Vegeta right there. He's in Rutabaga as well, same as me,"

"Sorry that you have to deal with that guy,"

"Its fine," Selrie waved it off, "Besides, he knows better than to not mess with me or my friends if he knows what's good for him,"

As the whole class settled down, the woman stood up and clapped three times to get their attention,

"Welcome my fellow Saiyan cubs, my name's Miss Buu," she began as she placed her hands on her hips and smiled, "And I will be your Elemental Attunement instructor!"

Most of the students awed while a chosen few grumbled,

"Hey! Little miss blue lady," Vegeta spoke up as the woman raised her eyebrows in his direction, "Just what in the world are you?"

"Dude..! Have some manners. You don't talk to a teacher that way!"

"Yeah you jerk, say you're sorry-"

"No, no, it's fine. Calm down students," the woman replied calmly as she eased the students back, "It's only natural for someone to react this way for the first time when they see me. And for your information mister..?"

"Vegeta,"

"Vegeta," Miss Buu continued, "I am a Majin. We are a race of magical beings who originated from my husband Buu,"

"So… your name is Buu, but your husband's name is Buu as well?" Vegeta questioned,

"Why, yes!"

"That makes no sense-"

"Well, a lot of the things in life never do, do they? Tee hee~" Miss Buu giggled,

Vegeta opened his mouth to counter as the whole class snickered, before he closed his mouth and sat back down, fuming.

"Now then," she continued, "Let's commence our first class of the semester, shall we?"

After having the students give a quick introduction, Miss Buu motioned them all to a corner of the room,

"Great! Now that everyone knows everyone, let's start," she began, "For the time being, you'll have to learn and see what the ten elements are, and what each of you can Bend and what each of you are attuned to. Here's a list…"

They all turned to a levitating hologram as a series of elements and images flashed before their eyes,

 _ **Fire  
Earth/Nature  
Light  
Thunder  
Darkness  
Air  
Water  
Ice  
Mana  
Psychic**_

"Mana..?" Selrie quirked her eyebrow,

"Yup! Magic is real too, sweetie. It's one of the elements Majins like myself are commonly attuned to," Miss Buu smiled, "Now then everyone, look around the sanctuary and find whichever setting you see fit to practice in. Be careful though and don't hurt yourselves,"

"Hey Miss Buu, I have a question," a young girl called out, "Which element is the deadliest?"

"All of them," she replied simply, "Not one element out there is weak or inferior to the other. All are dangerous in their own respect and it's up to the Bender any which way they choose to use it and how,"

"Is it possible to learn multiple elements at once?" Yamoshi asked,

"Yes, but not really. Everyone's Body, Ki, Mind and Spirit are attuned to one major element out of all the others… and element which speaks to us. You can go out of your way to learn other elements, yes, but they won't be as potent as what your being is attuned to, at the end of the day. Oh also… many elements have direct weaknesses and opposites to other elements as well such as fire is the opposite element of water, light to darkness and so on. Have at it!"

As they all scattered and went off to explore the large sanctuary and discover their inner element, Yamoshi decided to head off on his own as Selrie tapped his shoulder,

"Hey Yam, what's on your mind?" she questioned, "You seem kinda lost in thought,"

"Huh..? Oh," he began as he scratched his head, "It's nothing really. Just that Miss Buu's words kinda got me thinking what my own element would be, y'know…"

"I can relate," she nodded, "Wanna explore your element with me? I'm sort of clueless myself, haha,"

"Let's start in that patch of garden there,"

Yamoshi started as they made their way to a small garden portion of the sanctuary that permeated a sweet flowery scent,

"Hmmm," Selrie sighed as she took a deep breath and sighed, "Strange. I'm feeling a strange sort of inner peace here… like, this place is calling to me or something,"

"Huh, really?" he crossed his arms pondering, "How so?"

"I… don't know myself," she placed a hand on her chest as she looked down, "But for some reason, it's like… the plants here are speaking to me in some strange voice and calling me to- whoa..!"

Both teens stumbled back in shock as a small branch from a nearby bush stretched itself over to Selrie's hand as she hesitantly touched it,

"H-how did you do that!?"

"I didn't do this, Yam..!" Selrie cried defensively, "Or… maybe I did, I'm not sure…"

Slowly, the branch shrunk back as it curled itself back into the bush,

Both teenagers looked at each other, to the bush and back again.

"Call me crazy, but I'm pretty sure nature's your friend…"

"Haha, yeah, I think so too," Selrie looked at her hands, "Wanna try yourself?"

"Nah not really," Yamoshi shrugged, "Something tells me nature isn't it for me. You however, seem pretty good at it so I think you should focus on this instead. I'll go look for something else. Good luck!"

Selrie nodded and closed her eyes, sitting in a floating meditative position over the grass as Yamoshi made his way around,

"Okay, now to find something useful to-"

"Well, well, well… if it isn't the street rat Yamoshi,"

The young boy turned around on his heel as a young girl appeared behind him with her hands on her hips. She wore the green Collard House uniform and had a relatively medium height and curvy build. She had short messy black hair with a few long spiky black bangs, a scar across her left cheek, a slightly tan complexion, sharp black eyes and a light brown complexion.

She wore a confident and cocky smirk as she made her way towards Yamoshi,

"Mizuna..!?" Yamoshi cried out, acknowledging the young girl before him, "B-but how-"

The girl quirked her eyebrow at him incredulously,

"Oh Yamoshi, the look on your cute face is priceless," she chuckled, "Although, I am a bit taken aback that you're not happy upon seeing your old friend after, how long it's been..? Ten years..? And my oh my, you've grown up to be quite handsome and tall too,~"

Yamoshi shook his head furiously as she winked at him seductively,

"No, no, I mean… how!? Weren't you taken away from the orphanage when we were just four? How did YOU end up here in ESA of all places!?"

Mizuna narrowed her eyes at Yamoshi as her lips curled into an unimpressed pout,

"What's THAT supposed to mean!?" she snapped,

"W-what!? N-no I meant.." he sighed irritably, "Look. How did you come to ESA?"

"Same way you did probably..?" she smirked, "Sheer dumb luck?"

"That's not how I- y'know what… forget it, I don't have time for this," he turned around, prepared to walk away, "It's good seeing you again Mizuna, but I'm a bit preoccupied with the task at hand,"

A large ball of water struck the back of Yamoshi's head no sooner had he taken a few steps,

"What the- ughh!" he groaned as he turned around and was hit square in the face with another ball of water,

"Like my new water trick, Yammy?" Mizuna snickered as another large ball of water materialized in her left hand, "Tell you what… if you manage to beat me right here and now, I MIGHT consider telling you how I got here. Think you can handle that, street rat?"

The young boy wiped his face as he smirked and jumped into his battle stance;

"You're on Mizuna," he shot back, "Fair warning though, while you were away for all those years doing whatever you were, THIS street rat's been training all this time and he's stronger than you can fathom,"

 **Battle BGM: "King Of Fighters 2002 UM – ESAKA!"**

"Is that so?" she quirked her eyebrows as another ball of water appeared in her right hand, as she balanced them both, "In that case, why don't you come over here and show me? Because I think you forgot how our little brawl ended earlier,"

"Gladly,"

"Take this..!"

Mizuna pulled back her hand as she tossed the large ball of water Yamoshi's way as he barely side-stepped out of the way – avoiding impact as it made contact with the grass below him,

"That won't save you! Here..!"

She cried out as she tossed the second ball, which Yamoshi simply swatted away with his hand and dashed forward with his fist pulled back,

"Hrraaagh!" he cried as his fist made contact with Mizuna's blocked arms before smirking and grabbing her by surprise,

"W-what!?"

"Amateur move, Zuni… hiyaa!" he shot back as he grabbed her by the jaw and chucked her away with full force, "Blocking won't save you from this,"

"Tch, you weren't kidding Yammy, you HAVE gotten stronger than before," she smiled as she massaged her sore jaw before jumping to her feet and dashing towards him, "Now let's find out just how much..!"

Both teens clashed against each other in a series of punched before jumping back,

"Heh, guess you haven't been slacking off either," Yamoshi commented, "But let's see you tank THIS..!"

He pulled his hand back, ready to throw a Genocide Shell as nothing came out,

"Huh..?!"

"You dumbass, didn't you know?" Mizuna laughed, "All ki skills are disabled in the Sanctuary, so all you can really make use of is your element... like so,"

She pulled a thin string of water from the stream into her palm as she shot it out in Yamoshi's direction,

"Aargh!" he groaned as the water smacked him straight in the face, knocking him away, "Dammit, since when did water become this deadly!?"

"Fool, every element can be deadly if you know how to use it," the young girl replied as she summoned more strings of water and shot them all in Yamoshi's direction, pinning him down,

"Hrraaagh..!" Yamoshi winced as he managed to somehow roll away and point his palm in Mizuna's direction; attempting to fire a ki blast at her but to no avail,

"Tsk, you never learn, do you?" she sighed irritably as she juggled a large ball of water in both her hands, "Maybe this'll teach you,"

"Umm…" Yamoshi gulped, "Any chance we could talk this out- aargh!"

"Too late," Mizuna chuckled as she fired the ball at Yamoshi's face, knocking him on his back, coughing, "Damn, I forgot how good it felt beating you to the ground,"

"Curse. You. Mizuna." Yamoshi grumbled as he sat up, shaking his wet head,

"Hahaha, aww don't worry, Yammy," she made her way over to him as she crouched next to him closely, ruffling his wet hair; unaware that the closeness of their bodies was making the young teenager blush as he chest was mere centimeters away from his face, "I'll make it up to you at lunch, alright?"

"Ahem, y-yeah… sure,"

"Well anyways," she stood back up, "It was nice seeing you again after so long. Guess time wasn't as cruel in your case after all huh?"

She winked and walked away, waving back as Yamoshi watched her descending form before sighing.

"Great. Now I have to deal with _her_ as well," he fell back on the grass, looking at the sky above, "Guess that means I have a lot more to prove than how I originally thought of. Welcome to ESA, Yamoshi,"

He sat back up and scratched his head as his eyes fell on the rock pits where a few other students, much like himself, were practicing Bending on a bunch of rocks,

"Hmm, I wonder…"

Yamoshi walked over to Jicama as he tried his best to lift a small boulder into the air,

"Grr, come on, come on! Move..!" he grumbled,

"Hey there, what'cha doing?" he started as the younger boy looked up at him,

"Oh hey, just trying to lift this damn rock of the ground," he started as he stood up straight, "I managed to lift it a few inches in the air before somehow, but now I can't seem to do it no matter how hard I try… it's so frustrating! Maybe you can try,"

"Me..?" Yamoshi blinked, "You sure?"

"Yeah, why not," Jicama replied, "I mean… that girl from earlier wrecked you pretty hard with her Water Bending. I'd be pretty bummed if I were you, hehe,"

"Yeah. I AM pretty bummed." Yamoshi shot back clearly annoyed, "You saw the whole thing, huh?"

"Hehe sure did!" Jicama chuckled, "But don't get me wrong, I just wanna help. You seem like a good guy… especially if you're friends with Selrie,"

"You know Selrie?"

"Yeah, we're both in House Rutabaga," he nodded, "She's the first friend I made here and we both trained in PE too before coming here, but for some reason we got separated after we both went our separate ways to change. Name's Jicama by the way,"

"Uh huh… I'm Yamoshi," Yamoshi scratched his head, "Anyways, guess it's my turn to try and move this dumb rock!"

"Good luck,"

Yamoshi planted his feet firmly on the ground as he placed both hands on his waist, breathing slowly,

'Alright, focus.'

He reopened his eyes and pointed his palm out towards the boulder; shifting it slightly an inch backwards, to his and Jicama's absolute amazement,

"Whoa, awesome!" the younger boy cried out," "Now try lifting it,"

"Okay, here goes…" Yamoshi replied as he slowly moved his hand upwards; managing to lift the boulder slightly upwards, "Hey look, I'm doing it… I'm doing it!"

"Way to go, Yamoshi!"

"Ugh," he groaned as he immediately dropped the boulder a few seconds prior, "Phew… lifting this thing is hard work. My hand's all sore,"

"Is it heavy?"

"No, it's not that," he shook his head, "More like… you need to concentrate hard enough to make it lift and like you have to keep your hand stiff the whole time,"

"Ah, I see, come on, let's practice together then,"

And with that, both boys slowly but surely got the hang of their newfound Earth Bending and were tossing small rocks and pebbles back and forth with ease within a couple more practices,

"This is kinda fun!" Jicama began,

"Haha, it sure is!" Yamoshi replied as he lifted a small rock and tossed it against the wall, "With a bit more training, I'm sure we'll both be able to use this in our skills too,"

"Hey there you two,"

A familiar voice of the short spiky haired girl they both knew all too well caught their attention, as she waved and jogged over to them.

"Selrie, hi!" Jicama cried as he ran over to her, "H-hey, didn't know you were taking Elemental Attunement with us,"

"Well, we're all in the same batch so I won't be surprised if we saw more of one another,"

"Haha, so true," he grinned as he scratched the back of his head, "Yamoshi and I were just finishing up. What element did you learn?"

She simply waved her hand over the grass as a number of vines shot up and wrapped around her wrist,

"Cool! You got nature,"

"Naturally," she smiled and dispelled the vines, "The period's almost over and since we all probably have the same classes, so I was hoping if we all could walk to the next class together..?"

"Sure, I'm in," Yamoshi replied as he walked over to them, juggling a bunch of small rocks the size of a tennis ball in his hands, "Also, don't question the rocks in my hand. It's a gift for someone… special,"

"Ooh, a friend of yours?" Selrie chimed,

"You can say that," he replied smiling sinisterly,

Shortly enough, the bell rang, signaling the end of class as the students slowly made their way over to the exit to fetch their boots,

"Have a great day everyone and I hope to see you all in the next class!" Miss Buu called out as a few students acknowledged her while the rest either simply grumbled or paid no heed,

"Oh! There she is," Yamoshi cried out, gesturing in Mizuna's direction as she was seen chatting up Vegeta, who seemed really bored and uninterested, "Now watch this,"

"Oh boy,"

"Why is that girl talking to Vegeta of all people..?" Jicama pondered,

"Hey… Mizuna!" Yamoshi cried out, "What did you call me back there?"

"Oh brother, here we go again," she turned around to face Yamoshi, half expecting a huge swarm of rocks heading her way, "Y-yikes!"

She and Vegeta jumped out of the way as the rocks flew just barely above their heads,

"Ha! You missed-"

"Or did I?"

Just as she was least expecting it, Yamoshi flicked his wrist as the swarm of rocks changed directions and did a solid 180; striking the young girl in the head multiple times,

They all laughed as she staggered to her feet, clearly shaken up as she grinned at her old friend. Even Vegeta managed to crack a smile,

"Heh, good one," he mumbled,

"Score one for the street rat," Yamoshi grinned back as the young girl chuckled,

"Same old Yamoshi,"

"Same old Mizuna,"

 _Three days later…_

Aikon's eyes fluttered open as his eyesight slowly adjusted to the dim lighting of the room he was in,

"Where am I..?" he groaned as he looked down and found himself lying in a glass pod,

He found himself in nothing but a pair of skintight black boxers. His wounds had healed up completely and he felt stronger – much stronger than before, but for some reason, his mouth felt extremely dry…

'How long have I been out?'

He tried to move and managed to lift the glass cover off the pod over and off as he threw his legs over the side and staggered to his feet, standing up.

He looked around and realized he was in was some sort of medical healing room and that it was night time outside,

'Hold up… this doesn't feel right,'

Aikon rushed to a window and noticed the stars whizzing past,

'This could only mean-'

"Oh good, you're up," Karifuwara's voice brought him back to reality as he turned to the older man who was standing in the doorway carrying a tray of food, "Your father was getting a bit impatient, seeing as though you hadn't woken up yet after all this time,"

"M-my father..?" Aikon mumbled, "What-"

"Yes, your father. The king," the man continued as he walked over and placed the tray on a table nearby, "You've been in hypersleep for three whole days recovering your injuries, Prince Aikon,"

"T-three days!?" he exclaimed,

"Yes indeed," the man replied patiently, "It was necessary to heal your wounds as quickly as possible for the upcoming mission and exploit the most out of ones' Zenkais,"

"What mission?"

"The mission that will most likely determine all our fates," Abbage answered as he stepped out of the shadows, smirking at his son, "Hello, my son. I've been hearing tales,"

"Father..!"

 **End Episode (Outro Song: "Lagrima")**

 _After three whole days of sleeping and regaining his strength, Aikon is finally awake and back to full health and stronger than ever, but is he strong enough to face off against the impending threat at hand, or will his newly gained Zenkai go to waste?_

 _Meanwhile, what more adventures and trials do his friends have in store at the ESA, and how will they fare against the rest of the equally adamant and driven students?_

 _Find out in the upcoming episode; "Beginning of the End – Cumber's Nightmarish Power."_

 _Find out next time, on Dragon Ball XA._


End file.
